


Oracle of Fen'Harel

by slyth_erin



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Blackmail, Eventual Smut, F/M, Minor Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford, Modern Girl in Thedas, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:41:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slyth_erin/pseuds/slyth_erin
Summary: When the breach is created it rips Amelia form her normal life into the world of Thedas, a world in which she is very familiar with. In a desperate attempt to return home she decides to use her knowledge as a bargaining tool and offers it in exchange for help from the last person she thinks she can trust.This work will run from the opening scene of Inquisition through Trespasser (and possibly more) so MAJOR spoilers ahead.





	1. Prisoner

Amelia was late for class.  _ Again _ .

She could come up a million excuses as to why she was running late: she forgot to set her alarm, her roommate was in the shower when she was trying to get ready, or she couldn’t remember where she left her keys. But she wouldn’t be flying down the road at nearly double the speed limit towards campus had she not gone out with her friends for their weekly happy hour night at the local dive bar. She cursed herself as she looked down at her clothes and noticed that she managed to pull on the same flannel shirt and jeans she had been wearing the day prior. Her long red hair was piled up on top of her head in a messy bun.  Her phone rang as she whipped around the corner. She checked and the caller ID with a smile and answered.

“Hey girl,” she greets her best friend Lisa.

“Do you feel as bad as I do right now?” Lisa groans.

“Well if your head feels like it’s about to explode, then yes, I do.” Amelia glanced at the clock on her dashboard, “Dr. Osborn is not going to be happy when I walk in 20 minutes late.”

“I doubt he’ll even notice if you’re quite. You just have to act casually, even though I know that isn’t your greatest strength.” Amelia smiled then noticed a green haze approaching on the horizon but chalked it up to light reflecting off of the river she was approaching.

“Thanks for the confidence boost.” She responded dryly, squeezing her eyes to try to shake the trick of the light.

“Anytime! Anyway how about we grab lunch at the SUB today, around 2?” 

“Yeah sounds great!” as her car approached the bridge she could finally see a ball of green light hanging in mid air that seemed to warp around itself, “ _ oh what the fuck? _ ” She slammed on her breaks.

“Uh, you okay over there?” Lisa asked. 

“Yeah, hey can I call you back in a couple minutes?” Amelia didn’t wait for her friend’s response; she ended the call and tossed her phone on the passenger seat.

She stepped out of the car and felt the chill of late fall settling in the air but ignored it; engrossed by the strange orb hovering several feet above eye level. She took a few cautious steps towards it, glancing up and down the road to make sure there were no other cars around. “Why do I feel like I know this?” she asked herself staying several yards away.

The orb made a sound similar to a sonic boom and Amelia saw the edges start to crack in the air. She felt a pull towards the crack, a pull that grew increasingly stronger with each second. She cried out and tried to turn back desperately looking for anyone to pass by and help her. The pull grew so strong she felt her feet lift up from the ground and her body was suddenly flung towards the crack. And her whole world went black.

* * *

 

The first thing Amelia noticed when she woke up is the throbbing in her head, through her whole body really, but most noticeably in her head. She must have drank much much more than she thought she did. Maybe someone slipped something in one of her drinks? Before she could open her eyes she heard a voice.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now.” a woman with a strange accent stated. Where has she heard that before? Is her roommate watching a movie? “The Conclave is destroyed, everyone who attended is dead, except for you,” she paused, “and her.” Amelia’s eyes shot open. She saw two faces she was very familiar with: Cassandra and Leliana from fucking  _ Dragon Age _ were there. Right in front of her. Interrogating who she assumed to be the future Inquisitor.

As the Inquisitor continued to interact with the two women Amelia slowly sat up from her position on the damp dungeon floor her chains scraping on the stone. She saw the anchor light up the same green as the orb that she had seen what felt like just moments before. She noticed that this time the Inquisitor was a elven woman with white hair and Mythal’s markings on her face.

“I see you’re finally awake,” Cassandra commented, “Go to the forward camp Leliana, I will take  _ this one _ to the rift. The other will stay here until we have this all figured out.”

Cassandra unchanged the Inquisitor from the floor and nodded her head from the guards to Amelia. As they left the dungeon the guards hauled her up by each arm, unchained her, and dragged her towards an empty cell. They didn’t say anything to her as they dropped her back down to her knees and locked the cell as they left.

What the hell was going on? She felt a panic set in as she looked around. How could she be here? The torches on the walls flickered but gave off enough light for her to see that she was in the dungeons of Haven. She must be having a very vivid lucid dream. Or in a coma. Or maybe someone was reviving  _ Pranked _ and they are try to have her believe she has joined the world of her favorite video game.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, her mind running through what was going to happen next. She knew that the Inquisitor would go seal the rift then she would be knocked out for, what? A couple days? A week at the most? She couldn’t recall if they ever mentioned how long the Inquisitor was asleep for after sealing that first rift. She did know that at some point soon the people of Haven would start referring to her as the Herald of Andraste. Surely once they believe that the Inquisitor was innocent they would also believe her? Not that they’ve even spoken to her yet. What would she tell them when they did? That she was ripped from another world into this one? That this was a world in which she was intimately familiar with? That this is all just a dream? Regardless of whether this was an elaborate dream or not she didn’t think any of those would go over well. She could fake amnesia. If the Inquisitor had her memories taken it would be just as believable that Amelia’s had as well. That was what she’d have to go with. Better than ‘spinning a story’ as Varric would suggest; that way she wouldn’t have to remember what she was lying about.

When Cassandra and Leliana returned they marched right up to her cell. Cassandra’s face held anger while Leliana’s remained as neutral as possible - ever the spy master.

“Ellana has proven her innocence. She was attempting to save The Divine. But we have yet to find any answers as to why  _ you _ were also at The Conclave when the explosion happened,” Cassandra’s voice was accusatory to say the least. 

“I- I honestly can’t remember what happened,” Amelia paused feigning a look of confusion, “I can’t remember … anything.”

“A likely story.” Leliana commented, “Solas has informed us that he believes you to be a mage. Were you part of the rebellion?”

“What? I’m not a mage! I’ve never been able to use magic!” She retorted in shock. There is no way she could have magic. Surely someone from a world without magic could never actually possess it. She took a breath and collected herself, “at least not that I can remember. I don’t know how to use magic at all.”

“Well you are no templar.” Cassandra spat back, “What exactly were you doing at The Conclave?”

“I. Don’t. Know.” Amelia was frustrated. “I keep telling you that I don’t  remember what happened.”

“We cannot know what your motives were; whether you refuse to tell us or truely cannot remember. What is your name?” Leliana asked.

“Amelia.”

“Amelia what?” Leliana would likely use whatever surname she gave to attempt to track down where she came from. Whether she told the truth or made one up it could end badly. Either her surname would not exist in Thedas or Leliana would find a family with the name and they would have no knowledge of her. So she went for her only other alternative.

“I can’t remember.”

“Very well. If you do not wish to cooperate with us, you can stay here while we figure this out. Perhaps in the meantime your … memory will return or you can pray to The Maker that someone comes forward with some sort of evidence on your behalf.” With that the two women left the dungeon, giving Amelia a chance to reflect on what had transpired.

Cassandra was a character she always respected but not one that she ever spent more time than she needed to interacting with; she normally chose to leave her out of the party when she would venture in to Thedas. Leliana on the other hand was a character she had loved from Origins. Regardless, it hurt to have these two characters who she had come to know so well immediately distrust her and see her as the villian. She couldn’t blame them, not really. She didn’t have an anchor that would help save the world and she was, according to Solas, a mage. 

That thought gave her pause. How would she test if she was a mage or not? Amelia looked to her hands as if expecting sparks to start shooting out of them. Would she need a staff to test it? Or would it be like in Harry Potter where if she just really wanted something to happen it would. She tried to remember what had been said about untrained mages in Thedas. A strong emotion usually brought forth their powers, accidentally destroying something. The last thing she wanted to do was something that made her seem like an out of control mage when she is already being held captive. 

Maybe it was just as simple as sparks flying from her fingers. She focused on what she wanted to happen. Seeing it in her mind’s eye she held her hands up, palms facing each other, and willed electricity to arc from one hand to the other. Not knowing how much focus it would take, Amelia seemed to underestimate herself as a spark of blue lightning shot between her hands the force of the bolt caused her to fall back on the stone floor. Well. That answers that. Not only has she found herself thrown into the world of her favorite video game but she has somehow managed to acquire powers. How could any of this possibly go wrong? She felt her energy dragging not only from the magic use but from trying to process everything that had happened. Though she just woke up she felt like she could pass out at any moment. She figured that if it is all just a dream maybe if she went to sleep she’d wake up in her own bed, safe and sound, and would have a great story to tell Lisa in the morning. She dragged herself over to the pile of hay that was only slightly less uncomfortable than the ground and let herself drift into unconsciousness.

Amelia woke to the sound of metal on metal screeching. She bolted up from her spot on the hay and looked around in a panic. Stone floor, metal bars, torch lights, and what appeared to be guards switching out on rotation. She felt a cold wave of panic wash over her. She muttered a ‘ _ Oh fuck me _ ’ to herself. If this was real, if all of this was real: her being pulled through a rift from her world into this one, how was she going to get home? Surely people must have noticed that she was gone by now. What would they think with her car still running in the middle of the road with door wide open? Would her parents have been informed yet? Oh god her parents, her mom would be devastated, her only child just suddenly missing without a trace of where she went. She knew she needed to find a way to get back. But how? 

A mage would have to be the key. Amelia knew that she wasn’t nearly strong enough to accomplish it on her own. But how could she get someone to help her, let alone believe her in the first place? Her only weapon right now was knowledge. She wasn’t sure the decisions this Inquisitor would make but she did know some things that were sure to happen. So that basically meant she could blackmail someone or be willing to trade information for assistance. Amelia realized she had two options of who to approach: Dorian or Solas. Dorian’s experience with time travel magic made him a possibility; but she really didn’t think she would be able to blackmail him and he wouldn’t have much use of knowledge about what would happen with the Inquisition; besides she would have to wait the weeks or possibly months it would take for him to get to Haven.

Solas on the other hand… She knew that he would be making is own plans throughout the course of the Inquisition. She remembered the first time she learned about his true identity and how betrayed she felt. She knew that he was someone who would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. She knew that didn’t make him very trustworthy but if he wanted her knowledge of the world he would probably help her. Besides having someone who is a threat to his plans running about would probably motivate him to send them back to wherever they came from.

Amelia started running through various scenarios in her head as to how to approach Solas. She could simply say she knows who he is. But then risk being killed on the spot, not to mention the chance of a guard overhearing and reporting back to Leliana. She wondered if she would be able to meet with him in the fade as easily as the Inquisitor was able to. Being a mage it shouldn’t be hard for her to accomplish. But she hadn’t even seen it yet, had she been too exhausted before to even dream? Or maybe she was like the dwarves and unable to dream here? She would find out soon enough she supposed. She wondered how Solas would react to a girl from another world seeming to threaten him with information? She knew when the time came she would have to choose her words very carefully.

The heavy doors and the top of the stairs squeaked open again. She went to the bars of her cell and strained to see down the darkened hallway. And there, as if summoned by her thoughts, appeared Solas. She couldn’t help the butterflies that formed in her stomach. Despite the betrayal and her weariness of him, she still found him to be an attractive man, and seeing him in person did nothing to lessen the effect. He gave her a warm smile as he approached her.

“You must be hungry, this was all I was able to grab on my way here, but I suppose it is better than no food at all.” He stuck his hand between the bars offering a piece of bread while his other held on to what she assumed to be a cup of water. Amelia eyed him suspiciously but accepted nonetheless. “My name is Solas, I looked after you and the Herald while you slept.”

Amelia bit off a chunk of bread with her teeth, waiting until she had thoroughly chewed and swallowed the piece to respond. “I suppose Leliana sent you down here to try to get some information out of me? To speak to me from one apostate to another?”

“You are sharp, I’ll give you that, Leliana says that you claim to not know you are a mage? It is funny how you are so quick to label yourself an apostate then.” He handed her the cup.

She gulped nearly the whole thing down and said, “I’m just assuming that is what they are referring to me as now. Since they were so quick to call me a rebel mage sent here to ruin the Conclave. But honestly I can’t recall having a single magical bone in my body before all of this happened.”

Solas hummed, “And now? Do you believe yourself to possess magical abilities since the Conclave?”

“Well if my little experiment from last night … or this morning…or … you know I’m not even sure what time of day it is. Anyway if what I tried before was any proof, then yes I believe that I’m a mage.” She took another bite of the bread.

“What exactly did you accomplish before might I ask?” He leaned in a bit unable to hide his curiosity. 

“I may have summoned a  _ mini _ lightning bolt. Just a test, to see if I could do it.”

Solas let out a chuckle “Well you managed to do that and not fry yourself, or any of the guards that I know of, that is quite an accomplishment for someone of your age just now discovering their powers.”

Amelia smiled back at him, “Well it wasn’t completely without its flaws.”

Solas hesitated, “Leliana said that you have no memory of your life before the blast, is that true?” she nodded, “Yet another fact I find interesting, even the Herald can remember who she is, just not the events leading up to the blast.”

“I-” Shit. He had a point. Better to just try it now than to get caught in her lie. “I’ll make a deal with you Solas.”

“And what sort of deal could you offer me? You do not seem to have much to bargain with.” he crossed his arms over his chest waiting for her reply.

“I will answer all of your questions, as much as I can, if you meet with me in The Fade tonight.” she held her breath. If this did not go her way, she may be ruining her one shot at this.

“What difference would it make if you spoke to me in The Fade or right here?”

She took a long glance at the guard trying to make it obvious to Solas that she knew they were being listened to,”I heard a story recently,  _ about a wolf, _ that I think you may be interested in.”

Solas’s whole body tensed up. She could see panic then rage set across his face. He leaned in and dropped his voice so that only she could hear him, “And is this story of yours meant to be a threat to those who hear it?”

“No,” she held his gaze, “This story wasn’t written as a threat but more as … one of hope.”

He took a deep breath and stepped back, “Fine. I will hear your story, tonight.” He turned on his heels and stalked away from her cell. He paused just as he reached the archway to the stairs, “It is late morning by the way, you’ll have all day to think of how to best tell this story.”

That, she had no doubt, is exactly what she would be doing.


	2. Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelia and Solas strike a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to update this once a week on Sunday nights. This one is a little bit early due to New Years Eve. It's also slightly shorter than I would like my chapters to be but the next will be longer!  
> Let me know what you think in the comments! (good or bad)

Amelia became increasingly nervous as night grew closer. She kept track of the day by the guard rotations and the scraps of bread thrown her way at what she assumed to be dinner time. She spent the day worrying over how exactly she would propose this bargen to Solas and not make it seem like she was the bad guy. She imagined every way she could approach going poorly. How could she have been so stupid? She had just told an ancient elven god that she knew his secret identity. Yes, wonderful plan Amelia. Even if he did give her the chance to explain herself would he even be willing to listen to what she wants to offer him? She sighed rubbing her eyes and laid back on her ‘bed’ of hay.  She laid there for what felt like hours anxious with the thought of what would come in The Fade. She had trouble sleeping under normal circumstances but this made it significantly worse for her. In her first year of college her insomnia became so bad that she went to a counselor and learned some meditation techniques; techniques which she had only used once or twice. After focusing on her breathing and running through serval self-guided meditations she finally drifted off into The Fade.

* * *

 

Amelia expected to find herself in some dark and undefined place in The Fade when she arrived there but she found herself in Haven. It was daytime and it looked to be a place that was inhabited only lacking the people who lived there. Save for Solas who stood leaning against his cabin, arms crossed and a serious look settled in on his face.

“You certainly took your time.” He remarked as she approached him from down the hill.

“Yeah well, I wasn’t even sure I would be able to get here in the first place so really, you’re lucky I made it here at all.” She let out a shaky laugh and rubbed the back of her head.

“You arranged a meeting in a place you didn’t think you would make it to? Tell me Amelia, are you playing games with me?”

“No,” She looked him straight in the eyes, “No, I’m not playing any games.” _Even though I’m in one_ she joked to herself.

“Well you have me here and you have my undivided attention.” He opened his arms “I’m curious as to what you think you know.” He pushed off from the wall and took a step towards her, body ridged and fists clenched.

Amelia felt her chest tighten. Still unsure of what would be the best way to broach the topic. She took a deep breath, “Okay. I’m going to tell you some things, and you may not like what I have to say at first, but I hope you’ll let me explain.” He gave her a slight nod signalling her to continue. “Um alright then, well you probably already guess that I know who you are. I mean not just Solas, but Fen’Harel.” His jaw tightening did not escape her notice, “I also know that the orb Corypheus carries is yours, but that you didn’t mean for him to use it. I know that you locked the Evanuris away to save your people. I don’t know everything about you, but I’d say I know a lot more than most people alive now even the elves.” She bit at her lip and gave him a chance to speak but he let her continue.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on telling anyone. Even if I tell you everything and you don’t want to help me I won’t tell a soul.” She paused waiting to see if he would respond, “So the reason that I know all that, is well, because I’m not from Thedas.” Solas’s eyebrows quirked at that, “or anywhere in this world really. Where I come, from all of this,” she motioned to the space around them, “is a story, one that I am very familiar with. I know everything that happened from the 5th blight to now; I know what will happen with Corypheus until a couple years after his defeat. Hell, I even know what will happen when people make different choices.”

“And why would you choose to come to me with all of this information? If you know who I am why would you want my help?” Solas had regained most of his composure at that point. She was thankful for that.

“I want to make a deal with you. I will tell you what’s going to happen before it happens and I’ll help you with planning and organizing or whatever you need if you will help me figure out how to get home. When the Breach formed a rift also appeared in my world and pulled me through. I know you aren’t strong enough to do anything about it now- but you will be. I just want to go home. I have a family, friend, I’m going to school!” she could feel her throat tighten and water started to collect in her eyes, “This isn’t my world, even if I love this world, it’s not my home. I could mess up the story, I don’t want to play with other people’s lives like that.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know that you aren’t just an agent of Corypheus sent here to thwart the plans of the Inquisition?” He eyed her suspiciously.

“I’m not going to betray you. Can’t you see how desperately I need your help? If you think I have you could kill me, or make me tranquil,” at that Solas flinched, “or abandon me out in the Frostbacks; I won’t fight it. Because I’m not lying. I just want to go home.”

“What proof can you give me?”

“Well I thought about that, but um, I’m not sure I’m able to do it. So maybe you could help me? We don’t have The Fade in my world. Or any magic at all for that matter. But if you tell me how, I could try to change this bit to show you something from my home?”

Solas paused and seemed to think on what he would say next she could see thoughts flying through his head, he eventually nodded and said, “Not many mages have the ability to manipulate The Fade in such a way; I doubt you will be able to do it. But I will give you instructions, nonetheless. Dreamers unintentionally shape The Fade every night. Their desires, wants, fears, aspirations, everything they feel combines to create world that reflects their emotions. Those who are able to consciously shape The Fade do so by focusing on and controlling their emotions, bending them to their will. Make what you want to see be the only thing you desire and you may be able to conjure up the image. Even then it can take years of practice to fully transform what is around you.”

Amelia nodded and attempted to clear her mind. She wanted to show him her hometown. She focused on downtown where the few skyscrapers they had towered, people going about their days in an almost frenzy, and cars filling the streets. She took a deep breath and focused on the feeling that had developed in the pit of her stomach since coming to Thedas. The longing to be home with her friends and family and escape this nightmare she found herself trapped in. She pictured the street she wanted to manifest. She could see the shops and businesses perfectly: her favorite second hand shop and the bookstore that had somehow managed to still be thriving after being in business since before she could remember. She felt something shift in the air around her and she opened her eyes. They were no longer in Haven but they weren’t in her world either. The place they were in seamed vast but incredibly empty. It reminded her a bit of The Crossroads. Fog rolled past their shins and there was a light in the area but should couldn’t find the source.

“Well I must admit-” Solas’s words were cut short when a car appeared speeding towards them. Both Amelia and Solas were shocked at the apparition. She’d done it! Well sort of, she made something show up anyway! Just as it looked like it would hit them Solas waved his hand at the image and they were back in Haven. Amelia was giddy with her success but Solas looked less enthused.

“What _was_ that thing?” He heaved and took several steps back.

“It’s how we travel in my world, or one way at least. It’s sort of like a carriage that moves on its own.” She explained.

“And yet you say you have no magic in the world you come from?” He gave her an incredulous look.

“That wasn’t magic, it was science. But regardless, is that proof enough for you or will I have to keep practicing?”

“No.” he paused, “No that will suffice. I believe that you’re not from this world and that you more than likely know the future, but I have yet to decide if your motives are what you say they are.”

“Okay, that’s fair. This is a lot to process. But I’ll stay true to my word. I’ll help you do whatever it is you want me to do, whether its helping the Inquisition or helping you organize your plans, I’ll do it. But only if you do what you can to help me get back to my world.”

Solas is silent for a moment and then nods “I will help you, as much as I can help you right now. I will not be able to do anything until I retrieve the orb. But as an act of good faith tell me something now that can help me know what will come.”

She paused, should she tell him that he won’t be getting his orb back? Would that make him not want to help her or think that he couldn’t help her at all? Maybe something else, “The Inquisition will be invited to Halamshiral where Briala will be. She’s got her network of elven spies and eluvians. You could use her help to build your own forces. The ball would be a perfect chance to recruit her … depending on The Inquisitor’s choices.”

He hummed, “I suspected as much, but it is good to know that I was correct. I will help you. But betray me and things will not end well.” he began to turn from her.

“One more thing, if it isn’t too much?” she bit her lip.

“Yes?” he paused, head cocked in her direction.

“Could you maybe help me get out of the dungeon?”

* * *

 

Amelia wasn’t surprised when she woke up the morning following her meeting with Solas in The Fade and nothing happened. But she was disappointed that nothing happened that day- or the following day. It wasn’t until the third morning that she was woken up by the guards telling her to thank The Maker for looking after her that she knew Solas must have come up with something. They secured cold manacles around her wrists and pushed her towards the stairs.

Her legs screamed in protest from lack of use as she climbed towards the main hall of the chantry. While she anticipated Solas would be waiting for her when she emerged she was greeted with disapproving looks from chantry sisters and soldiers alike. Well, so much for hoping her name was cleared. With a tug of her arm she was led to the war room. After her lovely escorts opened the heavy doors she was shoved in with the doors promptly shut behind her.

Amelia looked around and saw the faces of many people she was familiar with, though none of them looked particularly happy to see her. On the opposite side of the table from her stood Leliana, Cullen, and Josephine. To her left were Cassandra and Ellana and to her right was Solas. Josephine and Ellana were the only ones who welcomed her with a nod.

Cassandra skipped any form of greeting and got straight to the point, “After speaking with Solas it was decided that perhaps we should all come together as a group to discuss your fate. And with the Herald awake the Inquisition can make that judgement.”

“Solas has offered to take on the responsibility for Amelia and wishes to release her from confinement to better do so.” Leliana added and relief washed over Amelia.

“Why in the world would you think it’s a good idea to let an apostate mage and possible _spy_ wander about Haven?” Cullen asked, “No offense Miss Amelia but we don’t even have the slightest idea who you are or what you want.”

“Simply put, I believe her, at least in that she had no magic prior to the Breach. That much is clear enough. I can train her to learn how to control her magic at least to the point where we won’t have to worry about possession. As for her memory, I cannot say for sure. But if she is telling the truth she may hold the key to unlock the Herald’s memories as well. Cullen, you of all people must recognize the danger we face with a potential abomination in our midst.”

“Having an untrained apostate amongst us will not look good for the Inquisition,” Josephine noted, “It will look like we have chosen to support the mage rebellion.”

“What if she was the one who caused the blast in the first place! We still have not been able to clear her name of that!” Cassandra accused. Amelia was growing frustrated with Cassandra of course she was right, Amelia had no way to prove to them that she didn’t do it, they won’t know that until they try to seal the breach, which could be months from now.

“Cassandra has a point, she could have had a part in The Divine’s death.” Leliana nodded.

“If you allow me the time to work with her, I believe I can help discover what she was doing there in the first place. Even if she is lying to us, do you not think it would be better that she is under constant observation rather than just locked away? I can work with her on either restoring her memories or finding a way to see the truth in The Fade either way it will benefit the Herald and the Inquisition” Amelia was suddenly very grateful that she has chosen the trickster god to help her through all of this.

“If she’s locked away she can’t do any more damage than she already has!” shouted Cassandra.

“But I haven’t done any damage!” Amelia retorted unable to hold herself back any longer. At that Cassandra, Cullen, and Leliana each attempted to start their own reply with her.

“Do I get a say in this? Or will you all just be arguing about this for the rest of the day?” Ellana asked and the room went quiet. “You want me to be your Herald then fine but I expect my input to mean something.”

“Of course, Herald, you’re right,” Cullen gestured for her to continue.

“You would all be thinking the exact same thing of me right now had I not been able to stop the breach from growing. We _saw_ what caused the explosion, and it definitely didn’t look or sound anything like _her_ .” she gestured to Amelia who smiled at her with a silent thank you, “I can’t tell you how I ended up at the breach and you expect her to be able to? I think Solas is right. We should be working with her to not only prevent possession but also to help restore _both_ our memories.”

Josephine took a breath and nodded, “If that is what you wish, Herald.”

“For now she will be kept under constant observation which Solas will be responsible for following through with. We will decide what happens with her after he has been able to study her more, not before.”

Amelia let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She thanked God or The Maker or whoever that things went the way they did. She mused that it really should be Fen’Harel that she thanks. Cullen walked to the doors and beckoned the guards in to unlock her shackles.

Cassandra stepped before her with her arms crossed, “We will rely on the Herald’s judgement for now, but I will be watching you, as will most of the inner counsel.” she warned her, face still holding the same look of contempt she has been sporting the whole meeting.

“Welcome to the Inquisition Amelia,” Leliana motioned her head towards her, “perhaps Solas and yourself will prove us wrong yet.”


	3. Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas begins teaching Amelia how to be a mage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to apologize in advance for any mistakes I overlooked or strange wording. I've been very sick this week but I wanted to get something out for you all on time!  
> Thank you all so much for the kudos and nice reviews! It means so much to me that you're enjoy this story.  
> As always positive feedback and constructive criticism is welcome!

“You want me to stay here? With you?” Amelia balked looking around his small cabin that was probably the size of her living room back home, “Why can’t I stay in my own cabin? Oh! There’s one right outside of Haven! I could stay there maybe?” she pointed in the general direction of the cabin.

Solas sighed, “It was not my desire to have you stay in here with me but the Herald and her counsel gave me no choice. If I wanted you to be released from the dungeon I had to agree to have you stay with me. They were very serious about me watching you. Until you give them a reason to trust you they will not allow for much independence.”

She let out a grown and sat in one of his chairs, “Well that’s fantastic, where will I sleep then? There’s only one bed and I’m sure as hell not sharing it with you.” she crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, “I will have something brought in for you to sleep on, I cannot promise a bed, but it will be better than nothing.”

“This is ridiculous, why can’t I stay with Ellana, or hell, even Cassandra? I’m sure she’d be a lot happier if she could keep an eye on me all the time anyway.”

“Do you find my presence so repulsive that you’d rather stay with a woman who has shown you nothing but hostility?”

“I-” It’s true that Amelia wasn’t the biggest fan of Solas. But he hasn’t done or said anything to  _ her _ that would make her dislike him. Blood rushed to her face with the wave of guilt that washed over her, “No. I’m sorry. I’m grateful that you helped me get out, thank you.” she forced a smile.

“Well you did not leave me with many choices, but you are welcome.” Solas sat down in the chair across from her and rested his arm on the table. We should begin on your magical training. I was not exaggerating earlier when I said that you are at risk of becoming possessed if we do not strengthen your abilities. But first, I would like to discuss something you mentioned in the fade,” she arched an eyebrow at him, “You said that you know the results of different choices, if this is just a story in your world, how would you know that?”

She hadn’t expected to have to explain video games to an ancient elf and struggled to find a way to describe it. Has no one invented those choose your own adventure type books here? “Well … remember how I showed you that thing in The Fade?” he nodded, “So you know that my world has made a lot of technological advances. We’ve basically figured out how to animate images and we watch them for entertainment, they show stories like those you’d read in books. There’s a different kind where you can help make choices in the story and it leads to different endings. That’s the kind of story this place is.”

“So your people play with other’s lives for fun in your world?” Solas looked disgusted.

“No! No one knows that this place actually exists. The writers probably don’t even know that it exists. I’ve thought a lot about how this could even be possible, and aside from the chance that I’m currently in a coma and just imagining all of this, there’s this theory that scientists in my world have. Basically that there are an infinite number of universes, universes where anything imaginable is possible. So maybe I live in a universe that by some tiny chance they imagined the possibility of this one. But who knows what it really is? Either way I’m here and I know things.” She shrugged.

“That is … I think I understand what you are saying. How do you know what will happen if things change when people make different choices?”

“I’m kind of thinking of this like time travel-” he gave her a strange look, “we don’t have it where I’m from but we write a lot of stories about it. So there’s a lot of different ideas about what time travel could imply, like whether or not somethings are always destined to happen or if we all have the power to change fate. With this world, and hell maybe all worlds, there are things that are always going to happen. But that doesn’t mean that only one chosen path will lead to that event..” She glanced up at him from where she had been drawing invisible lines with her fingers on the table, his brows were furrowed but he looked like he was following along, “so for instance I know that the first place the Herald will be asked to go is The Hinterlands just south of Redcliff, back to Haven and then to Val Royeaux without much happening between those two. When she returns to Haven again she will have a plan to go to Redcliff to speak to the mages but she may go other places beforehand as more people come to her for aid. That is all up to her, but the order in which she gets the information leading her places will always be Hinterlands, Val Royeaux, and Redcliff. Does that make sense?”

“Yes I understand what you are explaining. There are main events with detours along the way.” he brought his hand to his chin and thought on it.

“Yes, exactly.” she nodded, “Unfortunately I don’t remember every single detail about what happens on every excursion the Inquisition will make, but I remember the big things.” 

Amelia went over the major events that the Inquisition would face as briefly as Solas would allow: choosing between the mages and templars, closing the breach, the siege on Haven, finding Skyhold, the possible assassination of the empress, Adamant, finding the Temple of Mythal and the Well of Sorrows, and ultimately the defeat of Corypheus. “By the end, you’ll have power, much more than you do now. I don’t know how strong you were before you tore down The Veil, but I’d venture to say that within two years after Corypheus is gone you’ll be back to the same power you had before. The story wasn’t clear on where you were for those two years, but you’ll meet the Inquisition again at some point and they’ll figure out who you are. Everything else that is going to happen, the nuances as a result of Ellana’s choices, I can’t know right now; but I will update you on things as things progress.”

“You have given me much to think over. I cannot see anything immediately beneficial to this information, but I will look in to it some more. But I think that is enough for now. Come, we will begin your training.”

Solas stood and lead Amelia out of the cabin and into Haven. As they made their way through the village she could noticed the people of Haven didn’t hide their dislike of her. Some spat as she walked by and other simply turned and went inside. While she understood why they wouldn’t like her, it didn’t make it any easier. She still felt a pang in her chest as not a single person gave her a friendly glance. At least when they passed through the training yard she could excuse the troops for just being too busy to notice her. Though she did notice that both Cullen and Cassandra eyed her as Solas led her out into the woods. He took her out by the other side of the lake to the dock. The clothes she had been given in her cell did little to protect her from the cold out there.

“The first step in honing in your magical abilities will be in gain control of your mind. As a mage it is your strongest weapon,” He sat down towards the end of the dock and crossed his legs, she followed suit, “many mages were sent to the circle because they had no control over their mind and their emotions and it led to outbursts of power. But if you learn to control it, you should not have that problem. Close your eyes.” she followed his instructions, “I want you to focus on what you can feel.”

“Cold,” she responded keeping her eyes shut.

“Funny Amelia,” he did not sound remotely amused, “but not exactly what I meant. Beyond your physical sensations, I want you focus on what you can feel with your magic.”

She tried to do what he instructed, but felt nothing, “I don’t even know  _ how _ to do what you’re asking me to do.” she grumbled.

“Every mage has a center of power, one that can reach out and sense spells, changes in the fade, or even if there is another mage nearby. Forgive me, it has been a long time since I have had to instruct someone so unfamiliar with magic.”

She scoffed at the insult, “So how exactly am I supposed to find this power center?” 

“It is difficult to explain. It is like an extra sense that you are unaware that you have until you experience it. Like when you walk into a room after several individuals have had an argument and you can feel the tension in the air. It is intuitive. So first you must find it. Imagine something reaching out from you and brushing up against your surroundings. Some have described it as tendrils, others as waves, it will be unique as your own abilities are. But clear your mind and focus on that single objective.”

She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and gave it a try. She still wasn’t sure what she was meant to be reaching out with. She imagined herself standing up and moving away from where she currently was, exploring her surroundings, but she felt nothing. She tried imagining strings of magic coming off from her body in all different directions. Nothing. 

Amelia tried again and again for what felt like hours but failed to come up with anything. If she was a mage why was this so difficult? 

“I just don’t understand!” she groaned, “I don’t know what I’m even using to reach out! How am I supposed to do this if I don’t even know what my fucking center of power is!” she through her arms up and turned to look at Solas.

“You said in the dungeon you practiced magic.” He too opened his eyes and looked at her.

“Yeah, I made a little lighting bolt thing.” she held her hands in front of her.

“Try focusing on that memory. Remember what it felt like when you made the bolt. Not just physically, but where you felt it come from in your body.” He returned to his original position hands resting on his knees and eyes shut.

Okay, she could do this, what  _ did _ happen when she was down there? Of course she could feel the buzz of the electricity, but she felt something else too. Something being tugged at while she produced it. She too shut her eyes and focused again. She replayed the event in her mind a dozen times trying to remember what she felt. Then it clicked. She remembered the magic being pulled towards her hand from the base of her stomach. She remembered the feeling of power rising out of her at her will. She honed in on that spot she had felt it. She called to it beckoning to make its presence known. She let out an ‘hah!’ as she felt something respond to her tingling, moving, begging to come out. And now that she noticed it, she had no idea how she had missed it before. Like it had been there just waiting for her to notice all these days.

She pulled at it in her mind, commanding it to reach out to the world around her. She did not will it to take any form, but could see it’ perfectly in her mind. It rolled out from her body like clouds. As it passed Solas she could feel his own power respond but it remained controlled and centered on himself. It crawled out further spreading in all directions until it stopped all at once. She felt it pushing up against something in a perfect circle, not allowing her to explore any further.

“Are you...did you set up a barrier?” She broke her focus and felt the extension of her power dissipate into nothing. She looked over at Solas, who had a smile on his face.

“Very good, I am impressed how quickly you were able to sense it after you located your center of power. And yes, I did set up a barrier, I had to make sure that if you lost control of your powers others would not be hurt.” as she opened her mouth to protest he held up his hand and smiled, “Simply a precaution, I did not expect you to cause any harm; and it made for an adequate first test I think.”

“Well, I guess you’re right.” she conceded, “Do you have any other  _ tests _ for me? Or can we go back inside now? My fingers feel like they’re about to freeze off!”

Solas chuckled, “Yes, we can return now, I believe food should be ready for dinner now as it is.”

* * *

Amelia wasn’t surprised when most people in the tavern ignored her and a few shot her suspicious glances but she was happy that this time none of them made out right hostile gestures towards her. She kept her head looking straight ahead as she made her way to sit across from Solas in the back corner. He had already procured them both dinners of soup, fresh bread, and a mug of ale. They ate in silence so she took the opportunity to observe him. The first time she played as the Inquisitor she had been an elf and found herself drawn to Solas’s wisdom and outlook on The Fade. Of course she found him attractive as well and noted that her TV screen hardly did him justice. But regardless of how handsome she found him it didn’t quell her dislike of him. She knew that he would ultimately betray the Inquisition and that he would plan to tear down the veil effectively killing everyone in this world. She didn’t care that he was Fen’Harel, she knew he was more than he let on even in the beginning, but how could she ever trust someone who could plan to destroy the world, for the second time around?

“Is there something on my face Amelia?” Solas smirked at her.

“What? Oh, no. Sorry, I got lost in a train of thought.” She suddenly found her soup very interesting and slightly begged for someone to save her.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” A familiar voice asked. Amelia lifted her head to find Ellana standing there with her own bowl of soup in hand.  _ Thank god. _

“Of course Herald, please join us.” Solas motioned towards the table.

Ellana took a seat next to Amelia and gave her a warm smile, “You both looked like you could use some company.” She took a bit of her soup, “I’m sorry you haven’t been treated very well since arriving here. I believe you when you say that you can’t remember anything, I find myself in the same boat.”

Amelia returned her smile, “Thank you, that means a lot to me. Most people here won’t even look at me right now. Not that I can blame them, I would probably be suspicious of me too.” she shrugged.

“Give them time, I’m sure that once they see you mean no harm they will be more welcoming.” 

“Not that I’m not happy that you believe me but, why do you?” Amelia tilted her head at her.

“Because I can see the same fear and confusion in you that I felt when I first woke up. If I’m being honest I still feel it, but now people believe me to be a Herald to their holy figure and I’m to lead them.” Ellana looked at the anchor and flexed her fingers.

“Oh is that all it takes? Maybe I should go find something to mark me as a chosen one as well. Do you think those things come in other colors?” The two women laughed and continued to eat. Amelia was grateful that that Ellana was warming up to her. She didn’t know how long she could bare it in Haven if her only social interactions were with the person she was basically forcing to work with her.

“Solas, I would be interested in hearing your opinions on Elven culture.” Ellana said,  _ Oh boy here we go, _ Amelia thought bracing herself for Solas to almost certainly respond with something insulting.

“I thought you would be more interested in sharing your opinions on Elven culture. You are Dalish, are you not?” He responded calmly.

“What your problem with the Dalish? Allergic to halla?” Ellana teased, still trying to keep it light.

“They are children acting out stories misheard and repeated wrongly a thousand times.” At his words Ellana gripped her spoon in her fist, as if trying to stop herself reaching over the table and doing the same to his neck.

“Oh but you know the truth, right?” she forced a smile.

_ I do not need the only two people who will talk to me right now hating each other,  _ Amelia cleared her throat and turned to Ellana, “I don’t know very much about the Dalish, or if I do I don’t remember it,” she chuckled, “could you tell me a little bit about your clan?”

Ellana’s faced softened when she looked to Amelia she gave her a smile and said, “I come from Clan Lavellen. We’re are one of the more progressive clans that you would come across. Most Dalish keep to themselves or only trade with other clans either out of fear or anger. But my keeper, Deshanna, believes that we need to keep open ties with all people. We roam the Free Marches and trade regularly with merchants from Wycome.” Solas seemed surprised in her response.

“And how is trading with Wycome? Have you had many poor interactions?” Amelia prodded.

“Sometimes, I’m a hunter not a trader, so I haven’t experienced it first hand but we are almost always bound to have some form of negative interactions with humans when we venture near the cities. That’s why Keeper Deshanna wants us to stay friendly and open with the humans, she wants to show them that the notion of elves being wild and hostile just isn’t true.”

“That is a unique view your Keeper takes, I-” Solas began.

“Is Chuckles here boring you two ladies to tears with his stories again?” Varric came and sat across from Ellana, “We haven’t had a chance to meet yet, I’m Varric.”

Amelia smiled at him, “Amelia.” She reached across the table a shook his hand.

“I hear you’re the one in the same position as our Herald here,”  _ Well, straight and to the point.  _ “Can’t remember a thing from the conclave?”

“Can’t remember anything before the conclave either.” She nodded.

“That’s rough, I’ll tell you that same thing I told Ellana, should have spun a story. They probably wouldn’t have kept you down there for so long if you did.”

“What story would you have spun Varric? Being one of two people who survived an explosion and the only one without an alibi? I’m not a storyteller, but I’m assuming you are?” she smirked and took another bite.

“Sure am, I’m thinking about writing a story about the Inquisition, with all the sordid details and sexual escapades of course.” he winked, “As for your what story I would spin, that’s tough, gotta keep it as close to the truth as possible so you don’t slip up.”

“Well when I remember what the truth is, I’ll be sure to do that.” she smiled, “Care to share one of your stories for some dinner entertainment?”

“I thought you’d never ask, have you ever been to Kirkwall?”

* * *

In the days that followed Amelia got used to her new routine. Her days would be filled with exercised and meditations as directed by Solas. He laid out various runes and spells for her to find throughout Haven; and when she found them all for the day he would run her through meditations to help her with controlling her emotions. When he was pleased with her progress he started her on practicing with actual magic. She worked on aiming bolts of lightning at dummies he set out for her in a clearing far enough away from any trees or people that she wouldn’t risk anyone getting hurt. In the evenings she would join Ellana and Varric in the tavern for dinner, listening to their stories and all of Varric’s gossip about things going on in Haven. Solas often sat nearby but rarely joined in their conversation. This went on for nearly two weeks when one night in the tavern Ellana announced that they would be leaving for The Hinterlands the following morning to meet with Mother Giselle.

“I’m sorry Amelia, but Cassandra refuses to let you join us, you’ll have to stay here. And I’m bringing Solas, so you’re going to have a lot of free time on your hands while we’re gone.” Ellana placed her hand on Amelia’s shoulder.

“Oh that’s okay, who knows, maybe I can get someone else around here to warm up to me.” She smiled despite the anxiety she felt building at the thought of being left in the village with no one on her side.

“This will give you the perfect opportunity to read on magic. I have been meaning to collect some books for you to read about the various styles and techniques.” Solas chimed in.

When they returned to the cabin Solas wandered from one bookshelf to another pulling out texts he thought would be relevant to her and began stacking them on the table. Amelia watched him from her bedroll by the fireplace. 

“I appreciate you teaching me magic and everything, but what are we going to do about getting me home? I mean, where do we even start?” She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.

“What do you think I have been doing while you meditate? Do you think I just sit there and stare at you for hours at a time?” He turned to face her.

“No?” she paused, “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“I’ve been using that time to seek answering in The Fade, seeking counsel with the spirits I am able to find. Unfortunately most of them have been frightened away by the breach.”

“Oh. Well… thank you.” She was a bit surprised as he had yet to mention anything about it.

“You hardly need to thank me, afterall it is a part of our bargen is it not?” he quipped, “Speaking of, is there anything prudent I need to know with our upcoming excursion?”

She thought on it for a moment, running through all the events that could or would probably take place this early on, “You’ll get there, settle a skirmish between some mages and templars, talk to Mother Giselle, and then maybe go around helping out some villagers- I don’t know exactly what you’ll be doing since it’s kind of up to Ellana’s choices. You probably won’t spend all that much time there. But by the time you get back Josephine will probably feel you made yourselves noticed enough to go to Val Royeaux.” She watched as Solas continued to buzz back and forth around the cabin nodding at what she was saying, “Also, I wouldn’t stray too far from the crossroads and the farms, she isn’t strong enough to face everything out there yet.” she remembered the hours and hours she initially spent in The Hinterlands refusing to accept that she should come back when she was more prepared, she hoped Ellana wouldn’t be nearly as stubborn as she was.

“I will do what I can, but as you have said, much of this is up to the Herald.” 

* * *

The next morning Amelia walked with Ellana and the rest of the party to the gates of Haven. “How long do you think it will take you to get there?” she asked, realizing that she had no real concept of travel time in this world.

“Leliana said it shouldn’t take any more than three or four days. I don’t expect us to be gone for very long, a month at the most.” Ellana replied.  _ A month? What was she supposed to do for a month?? _

Amelia cleared her throat, “Well I hope you all stay safe on your journey.”

Everyone but Cassandra thanked her and said their goodbyes. She watched them leave until she could no longer see them past the tree line. She noticed Cullen and a couple of his soldiers approaching her.

“Hello Cullen,” she smiled, “Coming to make sure I don’t run away while my warden is gone?”

He made no reaction to her joke and stopped in front of her, “Unfortunately yes, I am.” her face instantly fell, “It was decided last night that while Solas is away are to remain in the dungeons for safety measures.”

She felt her blood run cold, “Excuse me, what?” she started to back away.

“Please Amelia, I’m not happy to lock you up again, but it’s what the council decided and now I have to follow through with it. Now you may walk there with me on your own or my men can escort you, but I would much rather it be the former.” She opened her mouth to protest but realized she had little choice in the matter. What could she do? Fight them? Run away? And then what? She would practically be confirming their suspicions of her. She nodded and began walking with him towards the chantry. “I am sorry to do this, you seem to be doing well in your studies with Solas, but it’s a safety precaution.”

“I understand Cullen, it’s not your fault.” She sighed as entered the building.

“I’ll try to make it as comfortable as possible for you this time around. We’ve already placed a bed roll for you in the cell. And if there’s anything you wish brought to you, just ask.” When they reached the dungeon this time he lead her to the cell that was before the main chamber it was filled with books and a desk like normal but this time it had a corner cleared with a bed roll laid out. “I figure this was the least we could do this time around.”

Amelia nodded, unsure of what to say she simply entered the cell and sat down at the desk. She listen to Cullen shut and lock the door behind her. 


	4. Passing Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelia finds a way to pass the time as she waits for Ellana and Solas to return from The Hinterlands.

Amelia felt so many things at once that she couldn’t keep them straight, but they were all screaming at her to be anywhere but there. The logical, rational part of her brain new that the council had every reason to lock her away. But the part of her that loved this world, that knew she would never intentionally hurt anyone, felt betrayed. She was angry and scared. She found herself wishing she had begged to go along with Ellana, come up with some clever reason as to why they needed her. Had Solas known that they would do this to her? Had Ellana? They must have mentioned something to her when they told her Amelia was to stay in Haven. She thought Ellana was the one person standing up for Amelia out of her own free will and faith, but perhaps she was wrong. The air bagan to crackle around her and she felt sparks start to jump between her finger tips. As her anger built she felt her hair stand on end and the air around her had the faint smell of ozone. Before she knew what was happening a bolt of lightning struck the scraps of carpet under her chair, starting a small fire.

Seeing what she had done she leapt up and began stomping out the flames as best she could. Luckily for her the was little carpet there to begin with so managed to get them under control before anything else caught on fire. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She knew that despite Solas using their training as a cover up he was right about her needing to learn how to control her emotions. She assumed that the idea of emotional mages causing disasters was just a story that the circles told in order to scare people into sending in their family and friends who were mages; apparently she was wrong. Still able to feel her rage simmering she knew that she needed to do something more to calm herself. While the majority of her exercises with Solas as of late have been to help her with honing in on her center of power and and refining her abilities to sense magic, they did spend a fair amount of time meditating. She was familiar with the sort of meditation he had her doing, she recently studied mindfulness in one of her psych classes and it was fairly similar to what Solas instructed her to do. She sat with her legs crossed on the floor and ran through the mental exercises focusing on her breath, her physical sensations, as well as visualizing her center of power keeping itself contained within her body. She did this until she was felt her heart rate slow down to normal and the heat she felt throughout her body cool.

After she felt she sufficiently calmed herself enough to not start blowing things up and/or setting them on fire she decided to start looking around at the books in her cell. Unsurprisingly most of them were about the Andraste and the Chantry. She had never been particularly interested in the leading religion of Thedas, favoring to read codex entries about the religions of elves and Tevinters over The Chant of Light. Perhaps it was due to her lack of belief in any sort of religion from her world that made her disinterested but she didn’t find any of it all that interesting. Realizing that it would be better for her to be a but more educated on the religion they would assume her to follow she decided that she should make the best of the books she had at her disposal. She plucked one from the shelf that she chose purely based on the fancy designs on the spine and began to read.

Amelia spent the rest of the day reading on the history of The Chantry. She only stopped when the guards brought her what she assumed to be her dinner; which had notably improved since the last time she stayed there. As she ate in silence she contemplated her current position and what she could do to pass the time until the party returned from The Hinterlands. The books would probably keep her occupied for a couple days before she couldn’t stand them anymore. Perhaps she could ask someone to bring the books Solas left out for her so she could study and feel somewhat productive. She could practice magic, but then she would risk the guards suspecting her of attempting to escape or cause harm. Then there was The Fade. Amelia hadn’t attempted to enter The Fade consciously since her first and only interaction with Solas there. Partially because she was usually so tired from training all day that she didn’t want to think about it; and partially because she didn’t want to have to face Solas there as well. In a place where they were free to be themselves without fear of others listening in, she was terrified of it. She was slightly embarrassed about essentially blackmailing the mage, but that wasn’t the only reason she feared being there with him. She couldn’t pin it down, but the thought of running in to him there made her so uncomfortable she would start to squirm. So she decided to stay away from The Fade. But now with Solas gone she wondered if she could explore it and not risk seeing him. She knew that people could only go so far away from their physical bodies in The Fade, perhaps The Hinterlands were far enough that could freely explore. Later that night as she lay on her bedroll Amelia focused on her center of power, meditating until she slipped into unconsciousness and to The Fade.

* * *

 

She found herself in the same formless, misty place from when she attempted to show Solas her world. She tried to remember what Solas had told her about shaping The Fade that first night. Something about being able to focus her emotions into what she desired to manifest? She decided to start small, last time she aimed big and got something, but not exactly what she wanted. She took measured, deep breaths and focused on her strongest emotions. She remembered the rage she felt earlier that day and channeled it all to her center of power. Shutting her eyes she held out her hand palm facing up and imagined seeing a perfect red apple sitting there.

Amelia let out a gasp as she felt the weight of something in her hand. Opening her eyes she saw it there, identical to what she envisioned. “Hah!” she shouted and jumped in the air, giggling with delite. “‘Most mages are unable to accomplish it’ my ass.” she mocked at Solas’s previous doubtful remarks. When she calmed herself down she attempted to conjure up other small objects, this time things from her world.

Item after item she brought in something new; her cell phone, modern clothes, a toilet. Soon she was surrounded by many modern artifacts; so she decided to try something bigger. She let go of the hold she had on the objects and they faded away becoming part of the mist that already surrounded her. She focused on her childhood bedroom, thinking that place would evoke enough emotions from her that she could be able to accomplish reshaping The Fade. She thought of her family, her home, the sleepovers she would have with friends, and all the teenaged angst filled nights she’d spent locked in her room rather than interacting with her parents. She sensed the air shift around her and eagerly opened her eyes.

What she saw before her was equally exciting as it was disappointing. The first time Amelia tried to conjure up a place rather than just an object she failed miserably. This time she managed to give form to the world around her, gone was the eerie mist replaces with a room to be approximately the same size as her bedroom. The walls and floors were bare and there were faint outlines of her furniture seemed like they were trying to take form but were only able to be manifested as dull translucent versions of themselves. It was better than last time, she supposed. She decided that she had enough practice for the now and let The Fade take over her dreams for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

The following day after Amelia finished her breakfast she began to read some long dead Grand Cleric’s journal that bored her so much she thought she had read the same page three times over. When she heard the clank of the heavy doors at the top of the stairs she simply assumed it was a guard rotation and didn’t bother to look up as the footsteps approached. It wasn’t until she heard someone clearing their throat that she noticed Cullen was standing in front of her cell.

“Amelia, I came to see how you were fairing. I know these aren’t the best conditions, but I hope it is better than the last time?” He motioned towards the other end of the dungeon that held the normal cells.

“It is, thank you, I have to ask though, why are you so concerned that I’m comfortable?” she set the book on the desk and rose to meet him at the door.

“I know that you and Ellana have become friendly recently and that she trusts you. I will not lie and tell you that the council did this with her knowledge. I believe that when she returns she will not be pleased to see that you were locked up again. And from what I have read of Solas’s reports you don’t appear to be a danger to anyone right now so I am sorry we still must have you watched in such a way, but we have no way to know for certain who you are.”

She nodded, “I know. I can only hope that Solas finds a way to help me regain my memories.” _or help me come up with a story that you all will believe._

“Despite what some have shown, we all feel the same way. I would much prefer to have you as an ally than a hostage.” he smiled at her, “Is there anything that you would like? I can’t promise that I can get it, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Actually there is. Before he left Solas set out some books for me in the cabin that he wanted me to read while he was gone. He said it will help me better understand the basics of magic. Knowing him he’ll expect me to have them all read by the time they get back. Not that all these books on The Chantry aren’t captivating, but a little bit of variety might be nice.” She motioned to the stacks of books sitting around the room.

“That shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll have one of my men bring them down later, is there anything else?” He nodded.

“Maybe a conversation?” She looked at him hopefully, “We haven’t spoken much since I’ve been here and it’s not like I have many people to talk to down here.”

“I have some time before I need to head back to the training yard, why not?” he pulled an old wooden chair from across the hall and she pushed the one in her cell closer to the door. “I have read Solas’s reports on your progress, but he hasn’t been very specific in what your training entails. What have the two of you been working on?”

She knew he was porbing to make sure she was safe to be around but she went along with him anyway having nothing to hide on that end, “Well at first all we did was meditate. I mean _all_ we would do was meditate. He teaching me to remain in control of my emotions and he also taught me how to sense magic around myself.” She paused, “If I was a mage before all of this happened, I really have no memory of being able to use it at all. He had a lot to teach me on my center of power the first couple days. Then after he felt comfortable with my progress we moved on to using actual magic. We figured out the element I’m most aligned to and he taught me a simple healing spell.”

“And what element have you found yourself the most powerful with?” He asked.

“Lightening,” she saw the concern he let slip across his face, “Don’t worry though! We always practiced that far away from people. And buildings. And trees. And he had a barrier up.” she rubbed the back of her head.

He chuckled at her, “And what of your memories? How have you two been attempting to reach those? He didn’t explain his methods in his reports.”

 _Well shit_ that’s something they hadn’t discussed yet, what they would tell the others they were doing for the fake memories they’re supposed to be looking for, she hoped that no one had a chance to ask Solas that question before they had the chance to speak again. “Well he’s been doing a lot of research on it, as much as he can do, we’ve tried accessing them in The Fade but haven’t found anything. He thinks they’ll be the easiest to recover while we’re there though, something about The Fade being connected to the subconscious state.”

“Well be sure to let me know when you make progress on that, it would be incredibly valuable for The Herald to attain her memories.”

“I will.” She promised. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, neither of them sure what to talk about next, “So … what was it like being a Templar?”

They spoke for a while about his life as a Templar, she knew most of it of course, and he only shared what could easily be found out by any person in Thedas with access to current events. After he explained why he chose to leave after the events in Kirkwall he stood from the chair and said, “I should be going, I need to run the troops through more exercises soon. It has been a pleasure, Amelia.”

“Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Commander Cullen.” she smiled at him and waved as he made his way out.

Instead of going back to the exciting life of Grand Cleric Whats-Her-Face, she decided to sit and practice meditating again; figuring it would be the closest she could get to studying magic until Solas’s books arrived. She sat on the floor first running through basic meditations, then reaching out with her magic to see if she could sense anything. Surely there must be a couple other mages who are living within Haven right now. She felt her magic spread out around her a creep up the stairs, through the chantry doors and out towards the village. She thought she could feel _something_ but she wasn’t sure, the further she reached out the weaker her connection felt. Her concentration was broken when she heard the doors open once again. She stood up, excited by the prospect of her books arriving so quickly. But instead of a young soldier trying to balance the heap of books Solas left out for her Amelia soon found herself face to face with Leliana.

“Oh, um hi Leliana, who would have thought I would get so many guests in one day?” She attempted to joke.

“Unfortunately this is not a social call,” Leliana responded, “I am here to discuss what you are not telling us.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Amelia cocked her head.

“There have been some things that cannot be ignored any longer, it is better for you to come clean now about your motives than for us to have to find out your secrets with other methods.”

“I’m still not understanding what you’re asking me to tell you? What have I done that makes you think I’m not telling you the truth?” Amelia tried to keep her expression as close to confusion as she possibly could, she knew that Leliana would be looking for indications that would give her away.

“Let’s start at the beginning. When we first found you and Ellana unconscious you were wearing the most unusual clothing. I had some of my agents take the clothing to tailors in Val Royeaux and aside from your cotton blouse they were unable to identify the material let alone the origin of any of the styles. None of them had seen anything like it.” Leliana crossed her arms waiting for a reply.

Amelia panicked, in all this time, she hadn’t wondered at all what had become of her old clothes. She assumed they had been thrown away, likely ruined by whatever residual effects of being pulled through The Fade left her with, “I’m unsure of how you expect me to answer that. I don’t remember who or where I was before the explosion, how could I possibly know anything about the clothes I was wearing?”

“You also seem to be very comfortable around Haven. I have been watching you since you were released and you seem to have known your way around since the first day. How is that possible when no one here knows who you are nor had they seen you before the explosion?”

“Well,” she swallowed, “I saw most of the village the first time Solas led me to his cabin. It wasn’t hard for me to remember where most things were. I figured it would be better to show a confident face to the villagers rather than a frightened one, so I faked it until I did know my way around.”

“You’ve gotten close to the Herald recently, have you not? Odd how you would seem to be closer to her than the man who vouched for you and won your freedom.”

“Solas is … not the most friendly individual, despite how grateful I have been for his help. Ellana approached me, she and I were in the same position for a while, she felt bad for me.”

“And what of your knowledge of the Templars? You seemed to know enough to ask Cullen of his history. I wonder, how would you have known about his past as a Templar? It is suspicious that a mage in the middle of this rebellion would be interested in knowing about a Templar.” Amelia wasn’t surprised that Leliana knew about what she and Cullen talked about; Leliana likely sent him down there to try to see what information he could get out of her.

“Varric told me. He talks about everyone. I didn’t know much about Cullen just that he used to be a Templar, so I brought it up. And I don’t know what my life what like before all of this, how would I know if I held any ill will towards Templars?”

“If you are unwilling to answer my questions honestly there are always other, less pleasant methods, of getting the truth out of you Amelia.” She could see Leliana’s frustration written all over her face, “I know that you are hiding something, perhaps you do not remember what happened before the explosion, but you do know something. I suggest you tell me what it is.”

“Look, I’m sorry I really am, but I know as much as you do. Hell you probably know more at this point.” She held up her hands in surrender, “All I can tell you is that Solas and I have been working on it. And if I am lying surely he would be able to tell by trying to see my memories in The Fade.”

Leliana clenched her jaw, “I see, I will leave you to your reading Amelia.” with that she turned and left Amelia running through what all just happened. She worried that she said the wrong thing, that she said something that would have contradicted what Solas has told them. She sat back down and tried to focus on anything but what had just happened, realizing worrying wouldn’t get her anywhere, she picked up where she left off with the Grad Cleric.

Several hours later the soldier Amelia was expecting to see the first time arrived at her cell. He instructed her to stand against the back wall as he unlocked and entered her cell. He set the books down on the desk and noted that the commander instructed to have several other books added to the collection ‘for variety’ he said. After he left and locked her cell again she went searching through the books. There were several on the origins of magic as well of some on different techniques taught across Thedas, but she stopped and laughed when she saw what Cullen added to her little library. She found at the bottom of the stack several of Varric’s novels, including his famous _Hard in Hightown_ . She grinned to herself, _well at least it won’t be completely boring while I’m stuck here._

* * *

 

For nearly three weeks her days looked almost exactly the same. Wake up, read, eat breakfast, meditate, read, eat dinner, read, meditate, repeat. Every couple of days Cullen would stop by her cell for several hours and talk to her about whatever she wished, and often about what she assumed Leliana instructed him to probe her about. At night she practiced her skills within The Fade. By now she could not only conjure up nearly any object that she wanted, but she could manipulate The Fade enough to look like different places. She still could only bring through places of great emotional significance to her, but she was beyond pleased with herself. As the nights went on and she practiced more and more with changing her surroundings she started to notice spirits coming to observe her. At first they were just little wisps that floated around the edges of the space she manipulated. But by the time she was forming full scenes around her there were spirits with more humanoid looking bodies watching. They never approached her or spoke to her, just silently observed, curious of this new mage who would do what so few could.

One night when she was finally able to manifest the entire park she grew up next to she noticed a figure that seemed to be more corporeal than the other spirits. She slowly approached it, curious as to what kind of spirit it was. “Hello,” she said as she walked to it cautiously, “will you come and speak with me?”

The spirit started making its way towards her, it’s form getting clearer and clearer the closer they got. When she was about ten feet away from it she left out a gasp and stopped in her tracks. It was not a spirit who was visiting her in The Fade, but Solas. She panicked. She wasn’t sure why she did, but the same nagging feeling that told her not to explore The Fade with him there before he left his her again. She backed up a few steps as he looked like he was about to say something she shut her eyes and willed herself out of The Fade.


	5. A Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelia is given a test from the Inquisition and travels with the Herald to Val Royeaux.

The morning following Amelia’s encounter with Solas in the Fade was spent with her worrying over breakfast about what had actually happened. Maybe her subconscious just manifested Solas? Maybe they were almost back and that’s what she could see him? Why did she panic like that? She felt foolish. If it was actually Solas why did she feel the need to run from him? What would he do, chastise her for claiming the attention of _his_ spirit friends?

Several hours later, the answer to one of her questions was partially answered. She could hear Ellana before she could see her. First she heard arguing, then the door at the top of the dungeon being opened. Several sets of footsteps came down the stairs and she could see Ellana there looking furious followed by a couple of guards.

Ellana rushed to the door of the cell and grabbed the bars, “I’m _so_ sorry Amelia. I had no idea they would do this! Had I known I would have demanded you come with us!” She started fumbling with the set of iron keys that a guard handed to her. Successfully unlocking the door after multiple tries. When the lock clicked Amelia stepped out of the cell and was promptly rushed into Ellana’s arms.

Amelia stood there initially shocked, but eventually returned the hug and said, “I know it wasn’t your fault, Cullen told me as much. At least it was slightly more comfortable than the first time.” She stepped back and grinned at Ellana.

“Come on, we’re going to get this sorted, once and for all.” Ellana grabbed her hand and began to lead her up the stairs and out for the dungeon for her first time in weeks. When they reached the main level she could see the sunlight coming through the cracks of the large chantry doors and she desperately wanted to go run through them and soak up as much of it as possible. But Ellana steered Amelia towards the war room where they would undoubtedly have yet another heated debate over her fate.

“So, who wants to begin explaining why my friend was locked in the dungeon _this whole time_?” Ellana crossed her arms giving an expectant look to her war council. Amelia noted they were also joined by Solas, Cassandra, and Varric.

“Lady Lavellan, we did not think it wise to leave an untrained apostate unattended in Haven. It is difficult enough to explain her presence here when she has supervision.” Josephine stepped up towards the table.

“And you didn’t think to, oh I don’t know, talk to me about it first?” Ellana demanded.

“We knew you would be opposed to the idea, and we needed a chance to see what she would do with her watcher gone.” Leliana said cautiously.

Amelia spoke up, “You mean see what I would say? I mean you did come and threaten me for information.” Solas body went rigid and eyes darted to her, _he’s worried I spilled his secret,_ she thought.

“You what?” Ellana looked in disbelief.

“What kind of Spymaster would I be if I didn’t press for information Ellana, she is still a suspect in the death of the Divine, or at the very least a spy sent because of it.”

“Why would anyone send a spy to the site of an explosion? Isn’t that just a little bit too obvious?” Amelia retorted.

“You have yet to provide us with any proof that you were not involved in the explosion at The Conclave!” Cassandra bit back.

“How about that I haven’t attempted to hurt any of you? Or run away in the middle of the night? Or hell even put up a fight when you all locked me up again!” Amelia stood her ground.

“We’re sorry, to both of you. I’m sorry that we went behind your back Ellana, and I’m sorry that we had to keep you there for so long Amelia,” Cullen said, “we thought this to be the best course of action and knew you wouldn’t agree to it. But we didn’t think it would be safe enough for Amelia to go with you to The Hinterlands where you would already be vulnerable. We’ll consult you on all further actions with Amelia.” Leliana and Josephine shot surprised looks at that.

Ellana sighed and leaned with her hands on the war table, “Look, you want to trust my judgement calls on what happens with this Inquisition then either trust all of them or none of them. We leave for Val Royeaux in a couple of days and I want Amelia to come with us. It can be a test of sorts for her.” She glanced over her shoulder at Amelia, “Val Royeaux should be safe enough for all of us to travel to while keeping an eye on her. She comes with us, proves herself trustworthy, and you all get off her case. I’m sure Solas and Varric would not oppose, would you?” She faced them.

Varric stepped forward first, “I can’t say much as to whether or not she’s proven herself with the magic bit but I think we could give her a shot. She doesn’t keep up on nearly enough of the gossip of Haven to be a good spy anyway.” Amelia smiled at him.

“And you Solas, what do you think? Has she been progressing well enough to accompany us?” Ellana asked.

Solas gave a nod, “Yes, she has been doing exceptionally well, for one who is new to magic. And if she is to accompany us we can continue working on memory recovery even when we’re in locations that aren’t a preferable location to practice magic.”

“By the way Solas, how is that going? Amelia mentioned something about working on it in The Fade?” Cullen cocked an eyebrow and Amelia felt her stomach drop. _Crap_ she hadn’t had the chance to talk to Solas yet about what they would say on their work with that. She only hoped Solas could play along with it.

“Yes, it’s much easier to access people’s memories in The Fade, especially if there’s a strong emotion attached to it. But we haven’t had any success yet. Perhaps given more time we will.” Solas didn’t miss a beat and she felt relief run through her.

“Well that settles it then, Amelia will join us in Val Royeaux and until then I want no more decisions made about her without my consent, okay?” Ellana said decidedly.

When the meeting was over, after everyone had agreed with Ellana in varying degrees of reluctance, Amelia turned to Solas and stated that she wanted to train. She didn’t wait for a response she simply turned and left with a determined march out towards the the forest. By the time he caught up to her she was already hurling lightning bolts at dummies they set out weeks before. With a wave of his hand he quickly set a barrier up around their training yard and approached her.

“I see that you have been practicing on not letting your emotions take control of your spellwork,” he noted at the lack of burnt surrounding areas. She nodded but didn’t stop. “I did not know that you would be imprisoned again when I left you here. I am sorry.” He held his hands behind his back as he watched her continue to destroy the dummies piece by piece.

After casting several more spells she paused and turned to him, “I know. I would guess that the only one of you who left who could have known was Cassandra. And I- I understand why they did it, but it was still hard to accept.”

“Yes, well, it does not make the situation any more tolerable to see their reasoning. I will try to prevent this from happening again. It is crucial that you gain the Inquisition’s trust if we are to succeed in getting what we both want.” she nodded at that, “Shall we discuss your progress that you have made in the Fade”

Amelia blushed at recalling her reaction to seeing him the previous night. So it was actually him she saw and not just her subconscious calling his image forward, “Well, it wouldn’t have been very smart to practice magic while they were watching to make sure I didn’t lose my shit and destroy everything. So I did what I could. Cullen was kind enough to have the books you left for me brought down so I read all of those,” Solas made a pleased sound, “I meditated, and I practiced in the Fade.” she shrugged, “Last night was probably the most I’ve been able to Shape the fade”

“Some mages study the Fade for many years before they are able to accomplish something like that Amelia, it was impressive. I could feel your presence when I entered the Fade and imagine my shock when I find you forming a world around you and drawing spirits in from the surrounding areas.”

Her eyes widened, “Should I be worried? I mean about drawing the spirits in?”

“No, the spirits were merely curious, I would imagine it has been a while since they have had a visitor other than myself who carries such a strong presence. You should try speaking to them sometime, they make for wonderful company.”

“Maybe I will,” She smiled at him.

“I have to ask though, why did you run when you saw me. Did you think I would be angry?”

“No! I mean, I’m not really sure why I did. Maybe I was just shocked to see you? I don’t know.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

He chuckled at her, “Do not worry yourself over it. I am glad to see your improvement regardless. It has been many years since I have known someone else who could change the Fade with such ease.” he gave her a warm smile.

The several days following went by quickly and Amelia fell back in to the routine of practicing magic during the day and spending her evenings in the tavern with Ellana and Varric. Ellana’s anger at her imprisonment seemed to solidify their friendship. They spoke to each other with ease, laughing and joking loudly along with Varric. Solas usually stayed long enough to finish his dinner then would retire to the cabin. While she slept she would continue to explore the Fade as she had been, but Solas kept his distance, which she greatly appreciated.

The night before their journey Ellana informed Amelia that she would be expected to run an errand for the Inquisition while in Val Royeaux. When Amelia gave her a confused look at that she said, “Think of it as a way to prove your trustworthiness. Josephine has an errand that needs to be run and we need to find a way to give you more credibility. Everyone wins.” Amelia agreed and said she would do whatever they needed her to. When she returned to the cabin Solas was still awake, packing his supplies. She smiled at him as she walked in and went to start packing her own back.

“I have something I would like for you to do for me while we are in the city.” He approached her with a small box no larger than the palm of his hand.

“You too?” she sighed, “Do you need me to pick up a special order like Josephine?” she rolled her eyes.

“No, in fact, I need you to drop something off for me. You said you would be willing to help me with my plans, so now I am asking you to do so.”

She froze. She didn’t know _what_ she could actually be doing that would help him this early on. Did he even have agents working for him yet? Didn’t he just wake up? She couldn’t remember. She swallowed and felt anxiety start to bubble in her stomach, “okay, what is it?”

“Not to worry, I am not sending you to do anything that could put you at risk,” he smiled at her nerves, “All I need you to do is leave this in the drop location my agent and I have agreed upon. Since you have been granted freedom from the Inquisition for an errand it will allow you to slip away where I could not.”

He described in detail where she would need to go. Some alleyway behind the markets, up a set of stairs, and place the box just on the other side of a half wall surrounding the garden she would see. She nodded and tucked the small box away in her bag.

“So … what’s in it?” She cast a glance his way as she continued to pack.

“Something that I need to get to Val Royeaux. I would prefer not to share all of my secrets, as you seem to know so many of them already.” he gave her a look, “I would ask that you do not open the box, there would be unfortunate consequences if it was opened before it got into the right hands.” He continued his packing as well.

“Is that a threat?” She turned with her hands on her hips giving him a defiant look.

“Not at all, just a statement of fact. Do not open that box Amelia, it could ruin many plans.”

She signed and turned back around. She knew better than to argue with him now. She agreed to do whatever he needed, and she would, if that's what it took for her to get home.

* * *

 

The day they got to Val Royeaux Amelia was in awe. She never understood the actual magnitude of the city before she arrived, and all the small thriving towns full of markets they had to travel through to get to the capital city. As they approached the gates the Inquisition agent she knew would be there approached them and informed Ellana about the templars in the city. Ellana asked questions about what to expect and how to proceed.

Cassandra pulled Amelia aside, giving her a stern look, “The Herald wishes for this to be a test for you and I wish for you to not be involved with Inquisition business until we know who you really are. When we enter the city you will have one hour to accomplish your task while we are meeting with the templars and members of the chantry. If you run, we will come after you. And even Ellana will not be able to stop you from facing the consequences of that. Do you understand?”

Amelia gritted her teeth. She had grown wary of Cassandra’s persistent negative attitude towards her during their travels. Despite everyone else in the party speaking to her comfortably and she was like a part of the team, Cassandra treated her the same she has been since she first arrived in Thedas, “Yes, I understand. I’ll be back within the hour.”

She was a little disappointed because she had wanted to see Elanna’s interactions with the templars, but figured it best to not stick around and raise Cassandra’s suspicions. She broke off from the party upon passing through the gates and started to make her way through the city. She remembered the directions Ellana gave her that morning as to where she would need to go to pick up whatever it was that Josephine needed. She made her way to the back of the market, to a small square with palm trees where she found the shop, tucked away in the little corner. The room she entered was filled with all different kinds of objects: weapons, armor, decor, baked goods. She wondered what exactly it was the ambassador needed for her to pick up that she simply couldn’t have shipped to Haven herself. She shrugged and took her place in line behind the three people already waiting there.

* * *

 

Amelia cursed and she shifted the large sack the merchant gave her. She had to have been in there for nearly forty five minutes waiting in line and waiting for the merchant to dig around in back looking for Josephine’s order. Her nerves grew as she made her way towards the drop point, hoping she didn’t run into anything else that would hold her up. Solas met with her in the Fade the previous night and showed her where exactly she would need to go, at her request. She was worried she wasn’t familiar enough with the parts of Val Royeaux outside of the game that she would get lost. But it was simple enough that she made her way there with ease and saw few people the further she got away from the market. She gently sat the bag down next to her and fished the small box out of her coat pocket. Running her finger along it she wondered what could possibly be in it. It was too small for even a book to fit, a message perhaps? And the box was just used to protect it? No, he had other ways to send messages. An amulet or charm? What could be so important that his agents weren’t able to pick them up themselves? She was tempted, of course, to look inside. She was a little hurt that he would send her to do his bidding but wouldn’t explain at all what it was she was actually delivering. She examined it for a while longer, turning it over in her hands, before deciding to just leave it where she was told and head back down to meet with the others. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know everything he has planned, that way she wouldn’t feel as much guilt when he ultimately betrayed the Inquisition. _Well one can dream._ She made her way back to the cafe where they arranged to meet. Varric was first to spot her as she approached their table.

“See Cassandra! I told you we could trust our little amnesiac! Have fun dealing with all the hoity toity merchants?” He scooted over for her to take a seat next to him on the bench.

“Yes, I really loved how he pretended to not recall a ‘Josephine Montilyet of the Inquisition’ and made me wait twenty minutes while he attempted to find her order. Funny enough I didn’t mention that she worked for the Inquisition.” she began filling her plate up with fruits and cheeses that were laid out before them.

“Hah! Oh that’s classic, he just wanted to make it seem like the Inquisition is some tiny organization that doesn’t deserve his attention.” she laughed along with Varric.

“I’m glad you made it back.” Ellana winked at her, “I knew you weren’t a bad guy!”

Solas looked her up and down, as if looking for something out of place, “Yes Amelia, welcome back, perhaps now you will be permitted some more freedoms around Haven.”

“Like getting my own place to stay?” She asked hopefully.

Ellana smiled, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Well I admit that I am impressed Amelia,” Cassandra conceded.

“Impressed that I was able to pick up an order from a merchant? Or that I didn’t run away? It doesn’t take much brains to figure out how to do either.” She responded.

“You are right, but let us hope you did not run away because you truly mean to help us.” She gave a grim smile.

“So,” she took a bite of cheese, “anything exciting happen while I was gone?”


	6. The First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the mission to recruit Sera Amelia makes her first kill.

The Herald had a busy evening planned for herself and the rest of the party. She received both the Red Jenny note and the invitation to Vivienne’s salon earlier on and wanted to follow up with both of them in the same day so they could get home quicker. They spent their afternoon running around Val Royeaux collecting the clues Sera laid out for them. Now that they had just set and they were on their way to the courtyard of that full-of-himself noble. 

Amelia’s nerves grew, she had been practicing magic for weeks but she had never used it in combat. The thought of having to fight people in real life made her throat tighten and her stomach make knots of itself. As they got closer to the location she began to fidget; Solas took notice and placed a hand on her shoulder, slowing both of their paces.

Once the group was several yards ahead of them he tilted his head towards her, “Is there something we should be worried about here?” he asked in a low voice.

She shook her head, “Everyone will be fine. We’ll even recruit someone new for the Inquisition, but there will be fighting. It won’t be much of a challenge it’s just…” she looked him in the eyes, “I’ve never actually fought anyone before. Conflict isn’t nearly as common back home as it is here.”

“Ah” he nodded, “Well if you are not sure that you will be able to handle yourself in battle try to stay behind the group. If this fight will be as easy as you say it is, we should have no problem keeping you safe.”

She nodded and tried not to take personal offense to Solas saying she couldn’t handle herself well. She wasn’t a child, she had just never seen anyone die before.

They crossed through the gate and upon seeing the few guards loitering around the outer area Ellana jumped into action, shortly followed by Cassandra, Varric, and Solas. Amelia did as Solas instructed, staying behind the party until the fighting was over. She tried not to look as each of the men dropped in defeat.

She continued to trail them as they entered the inner courtyard, where the pompous Orlesian was waiting for them. As Ellana interacted with him Amelia couldn’t help herself from rolling her eyes and making a disgusted noise similar to one Cassandra would have made. To their left a guard dropped and Sera appeared behind him with a bow in hand.

“Just say ‘what’” She drew back her the string.

“What is the-” The Orlesian replied before Sera shot him in the face.

Amelia smirked, despite not wanting to see someone be killed in that way she couldn’t help but enjoy her favorite introduction of anyone from the inner circle. As Sera and Ellana spoke Amelia backed herself up against a wall, attempting to find the most advantageous spot for her to see the second round of guards that would be coming.

When they finally arrived she had a hard time keeping everything straight. Everyone around her was a swirling mass of weapons and bodies. Solas, Varric, and Sera stood on the outsides firing at a distance and moving away from any incoming forces; while Ellana and Cassandra hurled their blades right in the thick of it. Ellana was moving so fast with her daggers that Amelia could hardly keep track of where she was.

Feeling overstimulated by everything that was happening at once Amelia failed to notice the guard that snuck up on her right side. He came charging at her with his sword and shield in hand. Amelia panicked and held out her hands desperately wishing for something to stop him. With a crack multiple lightning bolts came from all different directions and shot towards the charging guard. He dropped his weapons and convulsed, eyes wide and staring into her own and drool coming out of his mouth. His body crumpled to the ground with his appendages still giving off the occasional twitch.

Amelia felt her chest tighten as she stared in shock. Her hands started to shake as she lowered them back by her sides. As the fighting around her slowed all of her companions started to notice her state. Ellana was the first to approach her, giving her a cautious smile Ellana rested her hand on Amelia’s shoulder.

“Amelia?” she squeezed her shoulder, “are you okay?”

It took Amelia several seconds to respond, “Is he-” she attempted to swallow down the lump forming in her throat, “Is he dead?” she was unable to tear her gaze away from the body that now lay before her.

She already knew the answer to her question, as did Solas; nevertheless he kneeled down by the man and checked for his pulse. “Yes.” he confirmed.

“I-I- I didn’t mean to. He was coming towards me and I didn’t know what to do.” Her voice rasped. 

“Solas I thought you were training her in magic?” Cassandra asked carefully.

“Training cannot do much to prepare someone for taking a life. If Amelia has ever killed before, she does not remember it. But given her adverse reaction to it now, I would say she likely never has.” Solas approached her offering her his hand.

She didn’t register it for several moments until she blinked and looked away from the body. She took Solas’s hand and allowed him to lead her away from the courtyard.

“Bit touchy that one, yeah?” She heard Sera ask behind her.

“She’s been through a lot recently, give her a break, she’s a hoot normally,” Varric responded to her, “It’s surprising she’s able to keep up a sense of humor working with Chuckles all day.”

* * *

 

After parting with Sera Ellana decided it would be best that Cassandra and herself go to Vivienne’s salon and let the rest of the party stay behind at their inn. Amelia was more than okay with that, she still felt shaken after their earlier encounter. She knew there was a chance she could see another man die that night and didn’t want to take the risk. Cassandra was not happy to be dragged along to a formal Orlesian affair, but went along at the insistence of Ellana begging to not go alone.

So Amelia, Varric, and Solas found themselves sitting in the tavern portion of their inn finishing off their dinner of fresh fish and vegetables. It was, of course, very different from most of the taverns they would find in Ferelden. The decor was immaculate with accents of gold and blue and the patrons sat in small circles whispering to one another or quietly playing cards. This close to the capital it didn’t have the typical rowdy, drunken types most other taverns would be seen even in other places in Orlais. 

“How you hanging in there, Kitten?” Varric nudged her with his knee.

“Kitten? Really?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

“Sure! Ever been around a kitten? They act all skittish at first, real cute, but those little suckers have teeth.” He made a biting motion with his hand on his arm, seeing the upset look she gave him he added, “Too soon? Sorry, humor’s how I handle these things.”

“It’s okay Varric, I know you mean well. It’s just a lot to process.” she gave him a small smile.

“Well you know what helps me process? Alcohol. And what better time and place to do it than with your friends in one of the most stuffiest bars this side of The Frostbacks!” 

“I don’t know-” she started.

“Well what else are we gonna do? The Herald and Seeker are probably going to be gone for the rest of the night and we’ve got Inquisition coin to spend!” He stood and motioned over to the barkeep.

Amelia hadn’t gotten truly drunk since the night before she went through the rift. Sure she’d had a drink or two with dinner in Haven but never enough to get her anywhere close to inebriated. And when she thought about it, she could probably use something to calm her nerves.

She nodded at him, “Alright, yeah, lets do it.” She looked over to Solas, “Would you care to join us?”

“I am not one to imbibe much, but I will stay and keep you company if you wish.” Solas responded just finishing up the last of his meal.

“Oh come on Chuckles! Kitten here needs your moral support! You’ve got to have at least one drink with us to get the night going!” Varric had already collected three tankards of ale from the barkeep, tossing some coins his way.

Solas sighed, “Very well, but only one.”

Amelia and Varric both smirked at that, “Yeah yeah said every drunk person ever.” Varric responded.

Varric suggested that they all play a drinking game to ‘get to know each other better’ he claimed. Though Amelia had no doubt that it was really just his way of getting to know more juicy details about his companions while revealing none of his own.

“The rules are simple. You get asked a question, and you either have to tell the truth or drink.” He explained.

“Varric you do realize that I don’t know anything about myself right? You’re setting me up for failure.” Amelia countered. It hadn’t occurred to her until then that getting drunk could end very badly for her. Like accidently letting it slip that she’s not from this world kind of badly. She knew she would have to pace herself, and be careful of how she answered Varric’s probing questions.

“Don’t worry, we’ll try to only keep it to your life post-conclave.” He winked, “here, you can go first, I’ll ask you a question then when you answer you can decide who and what to ask next.” she took a deep breath and waited for his question, “Rumor has it that while you were locked up for the second time a certain curly haired commander paid you many a visit. Was there some forbidden romantic tryst going on between the two of you in those cells? I noticed that he just  _ happened _ to be having dinner at the same time we have since you got out.” Varric sat there with a smug look on his face and across the table from her she saw Solas’s head snap to her as he waited for her to reply.

She laughed at both of their reactions, “ _ No _ there was no such romantic tryst. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Now remember Kitten, you can’t lie. Tell the truth or drink.” Varric pointed an accusing finger at her.

“No seriously! I think he felt bad that he had to lock me up again. So he came and talked to me while you guys were gone. I’m also pretty sure Leliana put him up to it to try to get information out of me at first. Trust me, there is no illicit affair going on between myself or anyone else.”

“Well how am I supposed to write a book about all the scandals in the Inquisition if you don’t go around having secret affairs?” Varric put his hands up, “Oh alright, you passed, your turn to ask a question.”

“Alright Varric, tell us why you named your crossbow ‘Bianca’” She smirked at him, crossing her arms.

Varric took a long drink from his tankard, “Sorry, that’s one of few stories I don’t plan on telling.”

They went on for many rounds, Varric was true to his word when he said they would only ask questions about her since she came to Thedas. They were each two to three tankards in, Solas conceding to more drinks at the harassment of Amelia and Varric. Amelia knew that she was approaching her limit and that a drink or so more would likely have her losing her composure. Solas was farther along than any of them, refusing to answer most of Varric’s probing questions and when he they were often cryptic answers. How anyone found her suspicious and not Solas was beside Amelia. 

Varric turned towards Solas, having just answered his own question from Amelia, “Alright, Chuckles. We’ve already established that you  _ do _ in fact like women. Though how much you like them is up for debate I think.” Amelia rolled her eyes at his snide remarks, “You and Amelia spend an awful lot of time together. Quality time like that has to build some form of bond. You fancy our forgetful little mage here?”

Amelia could immediately feel her face heat at the question. Any romance between herself and Solas had never crossed her mind before, for many reasons. First and foremost because she still held ill feelings towards him from knowing what he plans to do after they defeat Corypheus. That didn’t stop her from finding him as attractive as she did the first time she played through the game though. She still caught herself admiring him from time to time when she knew he wasn’t looking.

Solas maintained his composure much more eloquently than she had, and even had a cocky smirk splattered across his face as he answered the dwarf, “If you are asking whether or not I find Amelia attractive, then the answer is yes. How could I not? She is a beautiful woman.” Amelia and Varric’s jaws both dropped at his response, “But if you are asking about my feelings towards her they are that of friendship. I have admired her quick study, and her company is not unpleasant.”

Amelia took a large gulp of her ale, looking anywhere but at the two men she sat with, “Well I think that is the most direct answer you’ve given us all night! Maybe we should give you alcohol more often!” Varric laughed and turned to Amelia, “Don’t take it too personally Kitten, I didn’t think we’d get a real answer out of him. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think he’s actually attracted to  _ anyone _ who isn’t a spirit or something.”

Solas started to disagree with Varric when she stood up from the table, “Well, I’m really tired, and I think I’ve had enough to drink to help me get to sleep after today. Thank you both for the lovely evening.” She didn’t wait for a response and instead headed towards the stairs and to the room she would be sharing with Ellana and Cassandra.

After closing and locking the door behind her Amelia stood there unsure of what to feel. She was still embarrassed that Varric even asked the question, let alone how Solas’s response made her uncomfortable. She was pleased, of course, that Solas found her physically attractive. But a little disappointed that he only saw her company as ‘not unpleasant’. The words stung a bit, I mean  _ sure _ she wasn’t always the friendliest towards him and she is kind of forcing him into helping her, but she was never rude or malicious. Maybe if she was kinder towards him-  _ wait. _ Why does it matter what he thinks of her? It’s not like she actually wants Solas to like her. He never would anyway, she’s not an elf. So it shouldn’t matter. He’s not a good person. He wants to tear this whole world apart just to make up for tearing it apart the first time. He’s willing to let hundreds of thousands die so he can do that. So why does it matter if he likes her or not? It shouldn’t. It  _ doesn’t _ she told herself. Shaking her head she decided that she had enough excitement for one day and made her way to bed.

* * *

 

Their journey back to Haven was uneventful. Varric mercifully didn’t bring up what happened in the tavern that night and after a couple days on the road Amelia no longer felt the awkwardness she felt being in Solas’s presence. By the time they got back to Haven she almost forgot it happened at all. On their first day back Amelia was in her shared cabin practicing a healing spell she read about, attempting to close a small papercut, when Solas approached her.

“You did well on our trip Amelia, I know some parts were not easy for you, but I am impressed.” He stood with his hands behind his back, watching her work.

“I never thanked you for helping me out after, well, you know.” she looked over her shoulder at him, “So thank you.”

“You need not mention it. Killing for the first time is not easy for anyone, your reaction was to be expected. And I was pleased that you followed my instructions to not open that box that I gave you.” He smirked.

She stopped and turned to face him completely, “Were you following me? Why didn’t you just do it yourself if you were able to do that?”

“I was not following you. I needed to see if you would follow my instructions, regardless of whether or not you know what you were actually doing for me. And you proved yourself to be loyal.”

“I’ve told you from the very beginning Solas, even if I don’t agree with what you’re doing, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, as long as you try to get me home.” she crossed her arms, “And if you weren’t following me how did you know I didn’t look in the box?”

“The box you delivered was enchanted with a rune, had you opened it I would imagine that you would have come back with a case of frostbite, or at least slightly more chilled than you were before you left.” 

“Seriously? How is anyone supposed to open it then? What’s the point of a secret drop that no one can open? Unless-” She stopped, realization dawning on her, “There was no drop was there? No package to be delivered. No agent.”

He made a pleased sound at her figuring it out, “No there was no drop. Like I said, I needed to see if you could follow my instructions, and I would not risk ruining a mission if you proved to not follow through. By the time anyone discovers that box the rune will have worn off and they will simply find it empty.”

“Well there, now both you and the Inquisition have your proof that I am actually somewhat competent.” She rolled her eyes, “Any other fake missions you have planned for me? Shall I go tie a banner around a tree where no one will see it? Maybe I should go ask a chantry sister a question in code and really make myself look like an idiot.”

“No. None of that will be necessary. I am sorry for deceiving you, but I needed to be sure. You have plenty of ammunition against me that if you chose to you could ruin me. Please forgive my caution.”

She opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself, “Actually, you’re right. I probably wouldn’t trust me in your position either. Just like the rest of the Inquisition, I understand why most still don’t trust me.”

He approached the table she was sitting at, taking a seat across from her, “On that subject, I did some planning while we were on the road, and I think I know how we can get the Inquisition to not only trust you, but embrace you as a member.”

She cocked an eyebrow, “Go on.”

They spent the rest of the night going over his plan. Who they would tell, and how they would execute it. Amelia had to admit, it wasn’t a bad idea. As they both got ready for bed that night she felt her nerves getting to her and found it hard to sleep. She spent the majority of the night staring up from her bedroll at the ceiling imagining how tomorrow would go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind comments, kudos, and subscriptions!


	7. The Oracle

“Okay Solas, you asked us all here, you said that you had something important to share. So, what is it?” Ellana stood opposite of Amelia and Solas across the war table, along with the rest of her war council.

“We seem to have made an interesting breakthrough with Amelia. Something I think you all will find very useful.” How he managed to remain so calm while Amelia’s nerves were screaming at her that this was all a very bad idea impressed her. What they were about to do went against _every one_ of her instincts she’s had since first coming to Thedas.

Leliana looked intrigued, “Have you finally discovered a way to recover her memories?”

The room perked up at that, eager to hear more, “Unfortunately we have not. But I believe our efforts to recover her memories and strengthen her magic have given us some … new information about her.”

Ellana made a frustrated sound, “Can you just tell us already Solas? Stop dancing around the subject!”

“Perhaps it is better if Amelia tells you herself.” He inclined his head in her direction.

Everyone looked to Amelia and she took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself before she spoke, “Ellana, yesterday I saw you speaking to someone. Outside of the chantry. A man. It was brief, but it looked like you agreed to whatever it was he said. And when you turned away I saw something. I’m not really sure how to explain it.”

“Yes,” Ellana confirmed, “A mercenary, he told me that his leader wanted us to check them out and see what they could do.”

“What do you mean you saw something?” Josephine paused her note taking to look up at Amelia.

“Well I saw Ellana, but not here. On a beach, where it was all rainy and windy. I saw her talking to this Qunari with _huge_ horns,” she held her hands up to the sides of her head, mimicking the size and shape of Iron Bull’s horns, “They were making a deal, seemed like Ellana was asking him to help the Inquisition. And then it was gone. I could still see Ellana but she was in Haven where she was supposed to be.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.” Ellana tilted her head, as if it would help her focus in on the words.

Solas cleared his throat, “In my exploration of the fade, I have heard of few people with these abilities, they’ve had many names over time but I believe they would now be called oracles.”

“You would have us believe that _she_ is an oracle of The Maker?” Leliana looked almost disgusted.

“I did not say that. We don’t know what or who caused the vision. Just that she had one. But would it be no different than you believing Ellana to be the Herald of Andraste? Both are equally doubtful. Yet both women were found at the breach, with lacking or completely missing memories, and were the only ones to survive the explosion.”

The room was silent. Amelia could feel the air grow heavy as they all processed what Solas and herself had just told them. Would they believe them? They had to. If not, she had just made a very big mistake.

“Okay.” Ellana nodded, “You’re right- we don’t know where the visions came from, we don’t even know where the mark came from. So she has visions now, that’s got to be useful to us.” She gave Amelia a reassuring smile, which she gratefully returned, and looked around at the rest of the council.

“Well yes, we don’t know how these things work yet, but if she could see the outcomes of battles we could use that to our advantage.” Cullen nodded and Amelia smirked at the commander’s instinct to think of battle plans. _._

“Look I don’t know why I was at The Temple of Sacred Ashes. But honestly whatever that reason was doesn’t matter anymore. I want to help the Inquisition, and I want to use whatever this new power is to do that.” _Well it wasn’t a complete lie_ , Amelia thought.

“We will see if what you saw was a vision of the future or something else entirely, but if you are an oracle that gift could be extremely useful.” Leliana stated, “I will speak with you later for exact details on what you saw. That is, if everyone else is in agreement?”

“Yes, I think we should allow Amelia the opportunity to help and join the Inquisition if she proves useful.” Josephine chimed in.

“Agreed.” Cullen smiled at her.

“Well you already know where I stand.” Ellana added.

* * *

 

As soon as the cabin door shut behind them Amelia threw her arms around Solas and let out a squeal. “We did it! Thank you! I can’t believe that worked!”

Solas stood there shocked at the sudden physical contact then slowly returned the hug. The feeling of his arms encircling her waist made her realize the position she was in and immediately let go of him and took several steps back. She looked to the floor and cleared her throat.

“I mean, thank you for coming up with that. I don’t know how much longer I could stand them tip toeing around me like I was an enemy that could betray them at any moment.”

“This will benefit both of us ultimately. You may have your freedom within the Inquisition and will be able to assist me more easily when matters arise. And you will no longer have to fear imprisonment when I am not around.”

“Yeah, that’s true, but it’s more than that. It’s, hopefully, no longer being treated like an outsider that’s got me excited. To feel like maybe I could actually make some friends while I’m here.”

“You certainly chose the wrong person to yourself align with if you did not want to seem like an outsider.” Solas gave her a half smile and she let out a short laugh, “I did not realize it caused you so much pain to not be a part of the team.”

“It’s not being excluded from the team that hurts. Have you ever loved a novel so much that you read the story over and over again? To the point where you felt like you knew each of the characters on a personal level?” He nodded, “Okay so imagine that you met those characters and they all thought you were there to kill them or ruin their lives. That no matter what you said they didn’t trust you and they went so far as to _lock you up._ ”

“You see these people as friends.” He confirmed.

“Yes. Even the ones that I didn’t like at first. When I took the time to get to know them and find out about who they are outside of their role in the Inquisition I found it hard not to like them.”

“And what of me? Do you see me as your friend as well?”

She paused, _did she think of Solas as a friend?Despite everything he plans to do?_ “Honestly? I’m not sure. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me so far and you’ve been the only one consistently kind to me since I got here, but I don’t agree with your plans. And I don’t like that you’re willing to sacrifice _everything_ to fix a mistake that you made.”

He gave a curt nod, “I see. Well, perhaps your opinion of me will change over time. Meanwhile we still have work to be done.” he turned from her and went to his desk, reading over papers he has strewn about.

Well shit. She didn’t mean to upset him, but she wasn’t going to lie either. Feeling sufficiently awkward she decided it would be best if she left Solas to his studies for a while. Sighing, she walked out the door without a word and started to wander around the village. She didn’t make it far before Ellana caught up with her, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

“I’ve got some good news for you!” She steered them towards the gates of Haven.

“And what’s that?” Amelia grinned at her friend.

“Well it’s no ‘I can see in to the future’ news but it’s good! Remember what you asked for back in Val Royeaux?”

“Um, you’ll have to be a little more specific?” Amelia chuckled, “A lot happened there.”

“You’ll just have to wait until we get there then.”

As they walked through Haven Amelia could see the villagers casting glances her way and speaking to each other in hushed whispers.

“Word is already spreading about your new powers.” Ellana noted, “But don’t worry. I think they’ll warm up to you now, especially after we go find this Iron Bull.”

“You sure have a lot of faith in me, don’t you?” Amelia asked and Ellana answered with a ‘uh huh.’

Ellana tugged her arm past the training grounds, “You asked for your own cabin, so … ta-da!” she made a grand gesture towards the building that stood before them, one Ellana had likely already discovered while looking for the apothecary's notes, “I cleaned it out for you last night, not that there was much to it to begin with. But now you’ll have some privacy, and a real bed!”

Amelia turned and hugged her, “Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me. If I had to spend much more time trying to coordinate my schedule so I don’t have to change while Solas is awake I may have lost my mind.”

“I’ve wanted to let you have your own space for a while, but now everyone else has finally agreed to it. Will it be okay, this far away from everyone else?”

“Oh I don’t mind that. It might be nice to have a place away where I can be alone for a bit. Not that I have much time with all the training Solas makes me do.”

They entered the cabin together and Amelia looked around. There was already a fire roaring making the cabin a comfortable temperature. Ellana was right, there wasn’t much in the cabin: a bed, desk, and some empty bookshelves. Amelia decided she would see if she could find some books around Haven that she could borrow while she stayed there.

“This is perfect, thank you.” she gave Ellana a warm smile.

“Of course! And while we’re here, Leliana wanted me to ask you about your vision. We leave in a couple days and she wants to go over every detail.”

The two spoke about the ‘vision’ and Amelia attempted to give her as many details as she could, based off of her original story. She told Ellana an exact description of Iron Bull, the stormy weather there was on the beach, and how many people she could see wandering around in the background- none of them hostile. Ellana left her after they spoke, to settle in to her new cabin and finalize travel plans with her council. Amelia looked around her new cabin and smiled, finally feeling like she had a place.

* * *

 

It was decided that Solas and Amelia would stay in Haven and work on her oracle powers while Ellana went to meet Iron Bull, speak with the mages, and find Blackwall.  Several days after Ellana, Sera, Vivienne, and Cassandra left for the Storm Coast Amelia found herself back in the habit of spending her days with Solas. She was sitting next to him reading a book on magic while he looked through documents and would reference books to verify whatever it was he was reading. They were quiet for several hours, each caught up in their own work, when Solas spoke up.

“Perhaps we should send a raven, stating that you’ve had another vision. We’ll say that you saw something strange surrounding Redcliff, a distorted sense of time.” He set the parchment he was reading down.

“Yeah that would be good. We can’t interfere too much with what will happen, but it would seem strange if I wasn’t able to give them a heads up about things that really stand out.” She nodded, turning to the next page, “I still don’t entirely understand how ravens work. Like how do they know where they’re going? These things are a lot easier where I’m from.”

Solas was silent for a moment, “It has dawned on me that I know nothing of your world.”

 _Well, that’s a bit out of the blue._ “You never asked.” She shrugged.

“Tell me what it is like there. From the brief glimpses of your world I have seen in the fade I can assume they are quite different.”

“They are so different I think it would be hard for you to even imagine what my world looks like.” She placed a ribbon to mark her page and set the book down.

Solas looked intrigued at the challenge, “I think you will be surprised at what I am able to comprehend.”

“Alright then,” she straightened up in the chair and crossed her arms, “First of all, there’s no magic.”

“None at all? Is it just humans who cannot perform magic or for all people?”

“None at all. And there are only humans. Where we’re from elves and dwarves are just myths, and well, I’ve never actually heard of anything like qunari outside of Thedas.”

“You have no connection to the fade then? Do you not dream?”

“We all dream, but we don’t have a fade, or if we do we have no way of accessing it. When we dream it’s not something we have control of, similar to non-mages here.”

“A world without magic, without the fade. Perhaps you are right, I would have a difficult time imagining what your world is like.” He seemed as if his heart was heavy imagining a world where such a thing could exist.

“Oh don’t sound so sad. It’s really not all that horrible. Instead of magic we use technology to help us. We’ve come up with some incredible things really. We can speak to others around the world instantaneously and get to place in hours that would take days by foot or horseback. Our medicine it pretty advanced too.”

“Perhaps one day when you have practiced enough you will be able to show me these advances in the fade.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Yeah if you’d like I could try that.”

“What was it that you did in your world? I assume you had a profession of some sort before you left.”

 _What was with all the personal questions today?_ “I’m a student. We all have to go to school to learn the basics from the ages of about 5 or 6 to 18. At that time most people choose to either start working or continue going to a more advanced school to learn about specialized topics. I’m almost done with my program though, and when I get back I’ll hopefully still be able to finish it.”

“What did you study?” He looked interested at the prospect of another scholar he could pick the brain of.

“Well, I don’t think you guys really have anything comparable here. But my degree is in social work. Basically I want to help people. Usually it’s people who have mental health problems, but sometimes it’s people who are terminally ill. It just kind of depends on where you work.”

“You have to go to school to learn how to help people?” Solas looked doubtful.

“It sounds silly, I know. But if you want to get paid to do it you do. Also what I want to do is deeply linked to mental health, which we know a lot about now, and you have to learn how to best help people with different disorders.”

“You wish to be an advocate for the less fortunate.” He pointed out.

She nodded, “You could see it that way sure. Though I don’t see them as any less than you or I, they are just people going through a hard time.”

He made a sound, acknowledging her statement, “And what of your personal life, do you have any family back home?”

“I-” she had been trying to not think of her family this whole time. She knew thinking about them and how much they must be worrying about her would only cause her pain, a pain which Solas seemed determined to bring up, “Yes. I have family. But I would rather not talk about them if you don’t mind.” She stood from her chair, “I think I’ll go inform Leliana of my new _vision_.”

“My apologies Amelia, I did not intend to wound you.” Solas put a hand over his chest and bowed his head.

“How did you think I would feel?” she spat and his eyes widened, “How would _you_ feel if I asked if you had any family before the veil?” Before he could respond she walked out the door and instead of heading towards Leliana’s tent she made her way out towards the forest, determined to set a few training dummies aflame.


	8. An Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas apologizes, Amelia helps Ellana make a big decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!  
> I'm trying to limit the amount of dialogue/rehashing of events in DAI since we've all (hopefully) played it before and you don't need me to tell you what happened. That being said if you want to see more key scenes please let me know!   
> Also if anyone would like beta these let me know!  
> Thank you for all of the wonderful comments!

Amelia did not see Solas that day after storming out of his cabin. Her anger dissipated within an hour or so of hurling spells at inanimate objects, but her pride kept her from returning. She wasn’t going to apologize for her outburst and she wasn’t ready to pretend like nothing happened; so she spent the rest of her day with Cullen watching the troops run through exercises and talking about the goings on of Haven.

The following day however she knew that she would have to return to him. Everyone thought they were now spending their time learning how to master her gift of sight and it would raise suspicions if she did not train with him for nearly two days in a row. She did nearly everything she could to drag her feet before going to his cabin. On her way into the village she visited both Cullen and Varric asking them about their plans and if they needed anything from her, she ate her breakfast as slowly as possible-paying special attention to each bite she took, and she stopped by Leliana’s tent to inform her of a vision of time behaving strangely around Redcliff. She did not give all the details about what Ellana would discover but she told Leliana of the encounter just outside the gates where they would see spots of time slowing and speeding up. Leliana scribbled away as Amelia described her vision and when she was finished Leliana thanked her and said she would send a raven out to the Herald right away.

By mid morning, when she could put it off no longer, Amelia begrudgingly made her way over to Solas’s cabin. She stood in front of his door taking a deep breath, before rapping her knuckles on the wood. She waited for his gentle ‘come in’ before she opened the door for herself and stepped inside. He had been waiting for her, for how long she didn’t know, but he was dressed and prepared for her arrival. She could see that he stood there not holding one staff but two.

“You have been progressing well on your training, and now that you will be seen as a valued member of the Inquisition I felt it appropriate that you have a staff” He handed her a staff that she hadn’t seen before, “This one is aligned with the lightning magic you seem to favor.”

She balanced the staff in her hands, testing out the weight, “Thank you. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Would you like to learn how to use it?”

“You mean with all the pointing and twirling?” She transferred it to one hand, letting the end rest on the ground.

Solas chuckled, “Yes, all the pointing and twirling.”

She nodded and smiled, “yeah, that sounds like fun.”

They walked side by side out to their training area, at first the only sound exchanged between them was the crunching of snow on the ground. Solas was the first to break the silence. 

“I did have one, you know.” He continued to look straight ahead towards their destination.

“Sorry, what?” She looked at him.

“A family. I had a family, before my … mistake.”

Amelia stopped walking and stared at Solas in shock. Unsure of what to say, she remained silent, allowing him to tell her more if he wished. He too stopped, several feet ahead of her, but still not looking in her direction.

“Brothers and sisters, parents, aunts and uncles, my family was quite large; as you can imagine a family gets when you are immortal. And now they are all gone. Every last one of them is dead, because I cut them off from the fade.” She could see his whole body grow rigid and his head bowed, sorrow engulfed his whole being.. For the first time Amelia felt like she could see behind his cool and collected mask. She felt pity for him in that moment. She could, in part, understand why he was so desperate to take back what he had done, just as she was so desperate to get back home. 

“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.” She came up next to him and gently placed her hand on his forearm.

“I did not tell you this to pity me, but to show you that I understand the pain of losing one’s family, and I am sorry for any pain I caused you earlier.”

“Well apology accepted. And bribing me with a staff definitely helped win you favor.” She joked, “Come on, show me how this thing works.”

Amelia was exhausted by the end of their training session. Using a staff was by far the most physically demanding thing Solas taught her. They spent hours perfecting her stance, her hold on the staff, and timing of the movements. Her muscles ached from using them in ways she never had before. She always admired the elegance of mages in battle, how all their movements seemed to flow into almost a dance. But now she realized how much work and how many years of practice it must have taken all them to make it look so effortless.

As they walked back into the village Solas noted, “You did well today.”

She laughed, “Are you kidding? I fumbled so much! And I don’t think my arms are going to be able to reach up past my shoulders for days!”

He chuckled with her, “Yes, I should say that you did well for your first day. You have to remember that most mages start this training from a very young age.”

They began making their way us towards the tavern for a much needed dinner when Leliana approached them.

“Amelia, Solas, I have received news from the Herald that I think you would both be interested in hearing.” She stood before them with a small smile on her lips. They both looked intrigued and waited for her to continue, “Ellana has met with The Iron Bull and she says it looked almost exactly as you described it. After seeing them in battle she has decided to hire The Chargers to help the Inquisition, though I think your vision was enough encouragement for her to invite them to come on their own.”

Amelia beamed, “That’s great news! I can’t believe that thing that I saw was … well… real.”

“It was indeed real. Perhaps you will find your place in the Inquisition yet, Amelia.” Leliana looked at both of them, “I will leave the two of you to your dinner, goodnight.”

After they parted from Leliana Amelia was filled with a hope that she hadn’t felt since coming to Thedas. She thought that maybe, just maybe, things would start to work out in her favor. Her previous aches forgotten, she made her way towards the tavern with a bounce in her step and a smile plastered across her face.

* * *

 

Iron Bull and the Chargers arrived ahead of the Herald and the rest of the party, which was to be expected, since they planned on going through Redcliff on their way back to Haven to look for Blackwall and meet with Grand Enchanter Fiona. Amelia found herself both excited and terrified to meet Iron Bull. She often favored him and had on more than one occasion chosen to romance him. She knew he would be a fun person to meet in real life. But she was terrified because she knew that if she gave even the smallest indication that she was lying about anything, he would be able to pick up on it. She decided it would be best for her, for now at least, to stay away from Iron Bull.

One morning Amelia was intercepted on her way through the training grounds by a messenger. He informed her that The Herald returned the night before and was calling her war council together, which apparently now included Amelia. She mused that this would be the first time she was called to the war room to discuss something other than her guilt or innocence. 

They would be debating over whether to support the mages or the templars, she already knew that. But she didn’t know what they would expect her to say. She hadn’t mastered her “ability” yet and wouldn’t be able to tell them anything on the spot. Even if she did, what would she say? She always chose the mages, for her it was a no brainer, but was it her place to make those decisions here and now? What would her meddling do to the story? It should be Ellana to make the decision. Not her. She braced herself and stepped into the room where Ellana, Cassandra, Leliana, Josephine, and Cullen were already waiting for her.

“Amelia! I can’t believe it but you were right, about meeting Iron Bull and with time acting strangely around Redcliff.” Ellana greeted her with a hug, “Thank you for the heads up by the way, it made us a little more prepared for what we faced.”

“Indeed, it was a peculiar sight to see, you have my thanks as well.” Cassandra tipped her head.

“The Herald was just giving us a briefing on what they encountered in Redcliff.” Josephine stood, posed to continue making notes. 

“Right!” Ellana turned back to face the whole group, “Now that you’re here we can get started. When the Inquisition agents arrived Grand Enchanter Fiona acted as if she had no recollection of talking to us in Val Royeaux. I’m not sure if it has something to do with the time being weird or the other thing that we discovered. It seems that the mages have pledged themselves to the Tevinter Imperium.”

Amelia feigned an alarmed look while Leliana spoke, “How could they be so foolish? What are they getting in return for helping them?”

“I assume that they gave up their freedom in exchange for help with winning the battle against the Templars. Regardless, it seems not all of the mages as so keen to work with them. I’ve made some acquaintances there that may be willing to help us in freeing the mages.”

The advisors began debating among themselves about whether or not they could even get into Redcliff and save the mages .  Cullen and Leliana stood firmly with their allegiances while Josephine was simply trying to find the most practical route for them to take. Ellana watched them debate in silence, seeming to take everything they said into consideration.

“We can’t waste time fighting among ourselves. We have to come to an agreement. Which is why I thought you should be here Amelia.” Ellana turned to her, “Have you seen anything that would help us with this situation?”

The whole room paused and turned to her expectantly, “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t seen anything. That second vision that I had only came while Solas was helping me focus in on Ellana’s exact plans, if I had some more time, a couple days maybe?”

“We don’t have that sort of time, we need to make a decision now, is there nothing you can do that could, I don’t know, trigger a vision? Anything that can help us figure out what is the right thing to do.” She gave her pleading eyes.

Amelia felt guilt pull at her, she knew the internal battle Ellana must be facing. She doesn’t know that regardless of who she chooses, the others will side with Corypheus. But what could she tell them that wouldn’t alter their path? She thought for a moment then gave a response.

“Can I have just a few minutes, to see if Solas could help me have another vision? It might not work, but I’d like to give it a try.” She looked around the room at each of them.

Ellana nodded, “I think we can wait a little bit longer before we make our final decision. Go, see what you can do.”

With that Amelia hurried out of the room and beelined it directly towards Solas’s cabin. Had she not been in such a hurry she would have found herself thrilled at seeing Dorian walking with just as much determination towards the chantry. But she stayed focused on the task at hand.

Solas looked startled when she threw open his door and immediately slammed it shut behind herself. Nevertheless he gently placed a mark on his book and set it beside him.

“I thought you were with the war council.” He stated, folding his hands in his lap.

“I  _ was _ with the war council, but they’re all expecting me to have some input on what they should do next. Solas, I don’t know what to do. Should I tell them who to side with? Is that getting too involved? I don’t think I should be making these decisions since I know what will happen. What if I mess everything up? They asked me to have a vision, like right there. How am I supposed to fake that? I told them I would come talk to you to see if I could get anything, but I don’t even know what to say.”

“Amelia” he calmly interjected.

“I could ruin everything by saying too much. But I still need them to see me as useful.”

“ _ Amelia _ .” 

“I know who  _ I  _ want them to side with but that shouldn’t matter, Ellana should be the one to pick, right? Not me. What is-”

“ _ Amelia!” _ He nearly shouted and finally got her attention, “Please, calm yourself so we can go over this rationally.”

She took a few deep breaths and nodded at him, “Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just we haven’t told them anything yet that we hadn’t already planned out.”

“I understand, please come sit down,” he gestured towards the empty chair across from him, “now you weren’t very detailed before what you told me the Herald would have to choose between the mages and the templars, tell me what you know.

She explained to him that no matter who they chose the other would align with Corypheus, that yes the mages were under Tevinter rule now but the Templars were being led by an envy demon pretending to be the Lord Seeker, but that’s not something they would find out until they already decided to align with the Templars. She explained, in detail, the events of both choices and ended by reminded him regardless of what they did, it would result in an attack on Haven.

“Well, I think I know what would be helpful while still allowing the Herald to make her own decisions. But please, let me know if you disagree.” Solas leaned in and explain his plan.

* * *

 

Amelia didn’t hide her anxiety as she stepped back into the war room, she thought it would make her seem more convincing. She noticed that Dorian now stood beside Ellana, looking confident as ever.

“Oh! Is this the little Oracle I’ve heard so much about? I must say, I did not expect you to be so young! Normally when you hear of Oracles they tend to be decrepit old ladies who do nothing but sit around and tell stories about depressing futures.” He gave her a charming smile.

“Thanks, I think?” she smiled back at him and then looked to Ellana, “It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but Solas and I were able to trigger a vision.”

“Really? So soon?” Leliana looked doubtful.

“Well, it wasn’t pleasant, he pushed me pretty hard, but I had one.” 

“Okay so, tell us, what did you see?” Ellana asked.

“First I saw Alexius on his knees before you in defeat, then I saw you in triumph at Therinfal Redoubt- I’m not sure what it was that you beat, but you all looked a bit bloodied up from fighting, and there were Templars around you cheering. I think I may have seen, I don’t know? Two possibilities? I think whichever side you choose, you will make enemies of the other; but it is up for you to decide Ellana, neither path will be an easy one.” Amelia chewed on her lip anxiously waiting for everyone in the room to respond.

“Well, it is good to know at least, that you will succeed regardless of the side you choose. Does this new information alter your opinions at all Ellana?” Josephine asked.

“No. I still think it’s best for us to side with the mages, the last thing we need is for it to seem like the mages of Ferelden are turning into the magisters of Tevinter,” Her head shot to Dorian and added, “No offense.” Amelia felt relief wash over her. While she wanted to leave the decision up to Ellana she was beyond happy that they sided with the mages. 

“None taken my dear, there’s a reason I left Alexius.” Dorian waved a hand at her, dismissing the insult.

“Leliana, how quickly can your agents make it to Redcliff?” Cullen asked.

“I could have them there in three days, ready for the Herald to arrive.” She responded.

“Ellana- you, Dorian, and whoever else you choose to accompany you will leave for Redcliff tomorrow morning. Let me know who you’d like to bring as soon as you can so we can prepare for them.” He instructed.

“I’ve already thought about this,” she smiled, “I’d like to have Iron Bull and Sera in my party, but I would also like to bring Solas and Amelia along to travel with us; in case she has any more visions about what we’ll face there. That is, if that’s okay with you Amelia. I know you aren’t prepared to fight anyone, but I thought perhaps you could stay in the village while we go to the castle?”

“Yes, of course, I would be happy to join you.” Amelia returned the smile, “Though we’ll have to make sure Solas is okay with sitting on the sidelines. ”

* * *

 

“Wonderful! I suppose now you’d all like to hear how I can help.” Dorian chimed in.

It was early afternoon by the time they were finished planning in the war room. Amelia felt a bit useless standing there with nothing to add, but she also felt it would be rude to excuse herself. So she stood and listened to all of the plans being made; realizing why these parts were left out of cut scenes- the logistics were terribly boring. She found herself leaving with Dorian, she offered to show him to his cabin after Ellana explained where he would be staying. 

“You were so quick to get alone with me, planning on ravishing me when we get to this cabin of mine?” Dorian wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Amelia giggled, flirting with Dorian was always one of her favorite things to do, “Oh yes, I will almost certainly throw you to the floor and have my way with you the moment we are in private.”

“You have wonderful taste darling! On another note, tell me how that future seeing things of yours works. Is it something you learned to do?”

They rounded the corner and were now facing the front of his temporary home, “No I didn’t learn how to do it. It just happened one day when I saw Ellana talking with someone from The Chargers. Solas thinks that it has something to do with the breach but it didn’t come to a head until my magic started getting stronger.”

“Hm perhaps it comes from the same source of power as the Herald’s mark. And who is this Solas? A lover perhaps?”

She laughed, “Lover? No not at all. He’s my teacher. He helped me when everyone else here still thought I was an evil spy or murderer or something. I spend most of my time training with him; I didn’t have any magic before the breach, I don’t think at least, and he helped me learn how to manage my powers.”

“The man spends all day with you for weeks and you still aren’t lovers? My dear if I had that much alone time with you we’d almost certainly be enjoying each other’s company in a much more intimate way.” He gave her an alluring smile.

“I bet we would.Perhaps we’ll have more alone time together when we get back from Redcliff.” She winked at him.

It was Dorian’s turn to laugh, “You may be just as wicked as I am darling.”

“Probably.” She smirked, “I’ll leave you to getting settled, I need to start packing. Most of us have dinner around sundown in the tavern if you’d care to join us. I’ll see you later, Dorian.”

Amelia walked away smiling. Even if he didn’t have any strong feelings of friendship towards her yet, it was nice to have someone not treat her like a pariah the first time they met her. She toyed with the thought of stopping in Solas’s cabin to inform him that they’d be leaving in the morning but decided she would much rather have some time to herself after spending all morning locked in a meeting. She began to head out of the village and to her cabin where she could escape and started thinking about everything they would likely face in the days to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always comments, questions, and constructive criticism welcome!


	9. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas confesses, Amelia does not respond well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!  
> Sorry for the delay in posting, I was terribly sick all last week and couldn't think straight enough to write anything. But I've worked really hard on this chapter and I hope you like it! 
> 
> Also for any future issues with the story I'll be posting them on my tumblr, I don't post much but when I do it's Dragon Age related usually. So feel free to follow me if you want so I can keep you guys in the know. https://slyth---erin.tumblr.com/

The party set off for Redcliffe Village the following morning. Amelia was relieved that this time, rather than walking, they had recently supplied horses to ride in making their journey take less than two days. It was bittersweet because she knew that if her riding abilities were the same as the few times she had ridden before, she would be painfully sore for the duration of their trip.

They decided to set up camp in The Hinterlands but farther out than she had seen. By the time all the tents were pitched and supplies were unloaded the sky was just starting to show the first signs of dusk. She had just gotten settled with a book in her tent when Solas approached her.

“Amelia, if you would like, we could go continue your training in the clearing nearby. The closer we get to the village the more likely it is we will run into fighting mages or templars, not to mention any highwaymen we may come across.” He stood before her with his hands politely tucked behind his back.

She set her book aside and crawled out of the small tent, “Yeah we could do that. It would be good for me to stretch my legs after all that riding anyway.”

As they walked out of camp together they spoke about her lack of horse riding skills and some of their companions’ lack of social skills. Solas noted that Iron Bull and Sera seemed to be particularly lacking in that category.

Amelia laughed, “Hey don’t let Bull fool you. He might seem like an uncouth behemoth but he notices  _ everything _ . He may not practice delicate social manners but he sure as hell picks up on them. And as for Sera well… I think she just likes things simple- straight and to the point. Why waste time on being fake?”

“And Dorian, you seem to be warming up rather quickly.” Solas commented.

“Yes, I am, I’ve been looking forward to meeting him; and I can’t say that I’m disappointed. What, worried that I’m going to spill all your secrets?”

Solas looked confused for a moment, “Actually the thought had not occurred to me. What I have been wondering if it is common for women from your world to make themselves so easily available for men they have just met.”

Amelia reeled back, feeling like she had just been slapped in the face, “Excuse me, what? Did you just call me easy? How fucking dare you.” she ground her teeth together.

“I was simply asking if that is the cultural norm in your world, I did not mean to offend.”

“Oh cut the bullshit Solas. You most certainly  _ did _ mean to offend. Where the hell did that come from? First of all, fuck you. Second, to answer your question, where I’m from- as long as everyone involved is willing, women can pretty much feel free to have sex with anyone they like no matter how well they know them. And ya know what? It is no one else’s business who  _ anyone _ has sex with in my world.” She could feel her blood pressure starting to rise and noticed the faint scent of ozone settling in around them.

Solas put up a hand to calm her, “Ame-” 

“No, I’m not finished. You don’t get to talk yet. Even though you don’t deserve an explanation for that little remark, I’ll give you one. I act that way with Dorian because I  _ know _ him. He may not know me yet, but I know him. I’m very fond of him, but not in a romantic way. He’s a flirt, that’s just who he is. And when I’m not in a situation where I have to be scared of being locked up or even killed, I tend to be kind of a flirt too. Trust me if I wanted to get laid I would  _ not _ go to Dorian. No if I wanted some fun I’d probably go to Bull, I know for a fact he and I are in to some of the same things.” She felt small bolts of lightning jumping between her fingers and her long hair started to lift away from her body.

Solas’s face flushed red, “You have made your point Amelia, you can stop now.”

If she wasn’t so worked up Amelia would have laughed at the uncomfortable expression, “Why do you care who I fuck anyway? It’s not like someone would be able to seduce me into betraying you.”

“Who you choose to sleep with is of no consequence to me. Come, let’s go back to camp.” He strode towards her, gently guiding her shoulder towards the direction of the camp.

She snatched up his wrist as he passed her, “No Solas, we’re talking about this. Why do you care?” her gaze on him was so intense she thought she may burn a hole in the back of his stupid bald head.

He did not turn when he answered her, “I care because, despite my better judgement, I find that thinking of you with someone else makes me… distressed.” 

The magic that had been building around her dropped. The thought of something growing between them had never crossed her mind. Sure, she had admired his features once or twice, but she had never wished for something more. She was still angry with him for causing the breach and what he planned to do after. It held her back from ever thinking of him as something more than a reluctant ally. Besides, wouldn’t anything that formed between them end just as brutally as if/when he broke things off with the Inquisitor?

She dropped his wrist and moved to face him, “Against your better judgement? Wow you really know how to make a girl feel special Solas. So you expect me to, what? Make some big reveal that I have feelings for you too? What do you expect me to say? That I love you despite the fact that you treat me with the same cold aloofness you do with everyone here? Despite the fact that you  _ clearly _ have this superiority complex being Elvhen and don’t even treat the people you’re trying to save as equals? And despite the fact that whether you meant to or not, you’re the reason I’m trapped here. It is  _ your _ fault that I was ripped from my world where I had a family, friends, and was  _ just _ starting to get my life in order.” Her voice began to crack, “Yes despite all of that and your  _ charming _ way of admitting your reluctant feelings for me, how could I not fall for you?”

Amelia couldn’t read the expression on his face but, for the first time, Solas was unable to make eye contact with her. Neither of them spoke and the tension grew in the space between them. She had a passing thought that perhaps she had been too cruel to him as he is not someone who admits his feelings easily. But it quickly vanished when she thought of the backhanded way he told her and how he was probably disgusted that he had feelings for a human.

Solas straightened himself and said, “You are right, I should not have said anything, we should head back to camp before it gets too dark.” He slipped back into his cool and calm demeanor but she could see just a hint of jagged edges of emotion eating away at him.

She nodded, unable to think of anything else to say. The pair walked back to camp in silence, neither of them daring to even glance over at the other.

Dorian was the first to notice something off when they arrived back. Everyone was gathered around the fire eating dinner, Amelia sat herself next to Dorian while Solas seemed to find the spot furthest away from her on the opposite side of the fire. She smiled at Ellana who handed her a bowl of whatever they were eating that night.

“You alright darling? Our hobo apostate didn’t push you too hard, did he?” Dorian nudged her with his elbow.

Amelia panicked for a moment, thinking somehow everyone there had just overheard their argument, “W-what?” 

“Oh you know? The training? That the two of you were supposedly doing out in the wilderness?”

“Sorry.” her shoulders slumped, “yeah it a little much, but I’m fine.”

“Ugh training with Elven Glory?” Sera groaned, “Bet that gets right boring. ‘Blah blah The Fade blah blah’ and ‘Oooh the elves used to have so much magic.” she mocked.

“I am sitting right here Sera, I would prefer it if you did not mock me.” Solas only glanced up from his meal.

Iron Bull snorted, “What’d he have you do? Meditate for hours like you always do? We’re on the road can’t you take a break?”

“Maybe they used it as an excuse for a shag in the forest?” Sera began to cackle at her own joke.

Amelia felt her face heat up, eyes immediately dropping.

“Those two? Nah, nothin’ going on there. Solas is too much of an academic type.” Bull laughed as well.

Solas rose from his spot, leaving his food behind, and left to his tent without a word. Seeing this Sera called after him, “oh come on it was just a joke!”

Seeing her discomfort Dorian piped up, “I’ll have you know Bull, that us academic types can make  _ fabulous _ lovers. But you’re right, Amelia is much too engrossed with me to notice any other man that comes her way.”

She gave a half grin at his attempt to switch the focus of a group, “He’s right you know. What we have is a love that they write fairy tales about.”

Later, just as everyone was heading to their own tents, Ellana stopped Amelia, “Are you alright? Something  _ did _ seem a little off when you and Solas got back from training.”

Amelia nodded, “Yeah, everything is fine, we just had a disagreement about whether or not I’m able to defend myself yet.” 

Ellana shrugged, “Well, you can’t blame him for being concerned about you,” Amelia half heartedly hummed in agreement, “Well, get some rest, we should make it to Redcliffe by tomorrow afternoon.”

* * *

 

The following day was awkward, to say the least. Even Sera was able to pick up on something strange going on between Amelia and Solas. Neither of them spoke to each other, and chose not to ride next to one another as they usually did. It was a painful couple of hours as they road in to the village. 

As they began to unload their supplies from the horses Amelia tried to remember if there was any fighting at all that went on outside of the twisted future Ellana goes to. Leliana’s agents sneak in and take care of the guards, Ellana and Dorian go into the future, seconds later they return, and then Alexius surrenders. Right? She thought about the idea of having to make awkward small talk with Solas the whole time the rest of the party was at the castle and it made her sick. How were they supposed to go back to working with each other after this? Maybe she could avoid all of that and fake a vision, telling Ellana that it will be safe.

Deciding that she would ask to go along Amelia started towards her. But within a few steps Solas was at her side.

He didn’t greet her, “There is something I need you to do for me while we’re here.” his tone was cold and said nothing other than business. 

“Not even going to throw in a ‘please’?” She stopped and turned to face him.

“This is part of our  _ arrangement _ is it not? You do things that I need you to do. I did not think I needed to ask.” His face gave away no emotion. Amelia on the other hand knew that annoyance was showing all over her face.

“Alright so it’s going to be like that today?” she sighed, “What do you need me to do?”

“Do you know much about this village? It’s inhabitants?”

She shrugged, “Sort of. I mean I haven’t interacted with every single person here but I know some key people.”

“I would like you to introduce me to some of _ The People _ that I could recruit in the near future. Knowing who my allies could be here would be advantageous.” She was about to ask him why he would even bother with something like this right now when he added, “That is, unless you have a better plan for us? Perhaps we’ll sit together in utter silence while the rest are gone?”

_ Fair enough _ , she thought, “Yeah I could do that I guess. I don’t know too many elves here, and I don’t think any of them will have any game changing secret weapons for you but let’s go talk to them.

Amelia wracked her brain for which elves lived in the village. The ones that stood out to her were the healer, the mage Ellana would see in the red lyrium nightmare future, and the older man who asks the Inquisitor to take flowers to his lover’s grave. 

They first went to pay a visit to the healer, who Solas feigned interest in buying potions from. He inquired about where she learned her craft, how she came to Redcliffe, and if she encountered any trouble with the villagers.She responded in kind, answering all of his questions while still trying to assess why this strange elf was asking so much about her. Amelia wasn’t sure what exactly Solas was trying to get out of the healer, but when he seemed satisfied enough with her answers he paid for an elfroot potion and thanked her for her time.

As they were walking out Amelia paused and said, “I noticed that your supplies were running a little low, we travel through the Hinterlands pretty often, if we find anything that you might need I’ll try to have it sent your way.”

The healer looked shocked, “That is very kind of you, but why would you do that for me?”

Amelia smiled, “I hope that you could extend that kindness to the refugees, they’re in desperate need of a heeler, and we’ll send supplies for as long as we can so you can help.”

“I doubt those refugees would risk their lives for a ‘knife-ear.’ Why should I risk mine for them?”

Solas spoke up,“Save yourself, and all the villagers will remember is that you hid. Even though they did the same. If you help the refugees, they may not love you, but they will hold their tongues before calling you ‘knife-ear.’”

Amelia shook her head, “I disagree, if you help the refugees they will see you for the kindness of your actions, rather than whether or not you’re an elf. People are scared and dying right now, I don’t think they care  _ who _ it is that’s saving them, I think you’ll find that they’re much more accepting than you expect.”

The healer looked to her, thinking over what she had just said, “I suppose I could help, it’s safer out there now with the Inquisition soldiers anyway.”

Amelia smiled, “Thank you, hopefully we’ll see you soon.”

Amelia and Solas left the hut, walking down the hill towards the center of the village.

“Why did you offer to help her?” Solas asked.

She shrugged, “I knew that she needed help, and that she wouldn’t be willing to leave the village and aide others if she didn’t get that help.”

“And would you have still helped her even if she refused to heal the refugees?”

“Yes. I offered to help, I wouldn’t take that back. But I new that she would help them. She’d probably have done it eventually on her own, but this way she knows she’s safe.” Solas said nothing as they continued to walk down the path, “Anyway, we’ve got more people to talk to. Come on.”

Their interactions went much the same way with the widower. Solas made pleasant small talk with him. When he brought up the flowers for his wife Amelia promised that when they were in that part of the Hinterlands they would leave flowers for her. This time she did not ask anything in return, she only gave him reassurance of their assistance. 

The last person they visited was Lysas who was surprised to see them there. He thought the Inquisition would have long abandoned the mages who sided with Tevinter.

“What choice did we have? Stay and be slaves?” He asked to no one in particular.

“Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take regrettable measures.” Solas agreed with him.

“I hope you can do something. Tying ourselves to Tevinter? That can’t be the right way to end this.”

“It’s not,” Amelia nodded, “but I know The Herald is trying to help. She’ll do what she can to make sure you are all free. Though the rest of the world may struggle to accept that the ‘rebel mages’ as the good guys, I know there will be ways for you to attone.”

“How do you know that?” Lysas asked.

“Because there’s bigger problems in the world right now and the Inquisition needs as much help as it can get. If the mages help stop the big bad, I think everyone else will probably let the whole ‘rebellion’ thing go for a while.”

* * *

 

Amelia and Solas returned to  _ The Gull and Lantern _ where the party had rented rooms for the night. They sat at a table in the corner waiting for the rest of their companions, looking anywhere but at each other. Amelia entertained herself by observing a couple sitting across the room, who were so smitten with each other they were oblivious to the rest of the world. She found it endearing and smiled,  _ well at least someone here is happy. _

Solas cleared his throat, “I did not think that recruiting people for The Inquisition was part of our agreement.”

She gave him a confused look, “You asked me to show you the elves in Redcliffe, I did that. Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean I can’t help the Inquisition as well, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Did you not think it would seem suspicious that while The Herald was busy you made friends with the only elves in the village?”

“Oh for fucks sake Solas,” she slammed her tankard down, “if you were worried about that you should have thought about it  _ before _ you asked to go around and meet only the elves. Don’t blame me for being helpful. Besides, if they’re on the Inquisition’s side it will be a lot easier for you to recruit them later.”

“Perhaps.” He stood from the table, “I will be upstairs, if the Herald wishes to know where I am when she returns.”

Solas walked away from her and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. If he wanted to be broody over her helping someone other than himself then fine. He’s the one who asked to spend time with her all afternoon anyway. If things had gone her way they would have been so distracted with Alexius they wouldn’t have had the time to feel awkward around each other. 

She sighed and picked her drink back up. Everyone should be getting back soon. She knew that it wouldn’t actually take that long for them to finish up with the mages. Well, not for most of them at least.

Ellana and Dorian would have to go through that nightmare future. She knew that they had to, in order to know about the assassination attempt and help motivate them to not fail but it would be hard on them. It would likely change them forever to see their friends reduced to that state. She wanted to be there to support them, to give them someone to talk to. Amelia decided then as she waited for their return that she would say she saw the future they went to, and be there to support her friends in any way that she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For any Pride and Prejudice fans you could probably tell that I really drew on Mr. Darcy's love confession to write Solas's. I originally didn't intend for it to happen that way, but as I was writing it I realized how much it reminded me of P&P so I just went with it.
> 
> Also I'm slowly but surely going though the older chapters and editing them for mistakes as I've found a more effective way for me to edit. The only major things I've changed is that there's now more of a physical description of Amelia, she's thin and has long red hair. But if you want to keep imagining her as you were go for it.


	10. Update

Hey y’all.   
I’ve been dealing with some life changes and mental health stuff so I need to step back from this for a while. I hope to be back in a few weeks. But my brain needs a break from writing/attempting to get things out on time.  
It means SO much to me that even one person likes this story, let alone the amount who read it now.  
Thank you in advance for understanding!

**Author's Note:**

> I have a rough outline for where I want this story to go and a pretty detailed outline for chapter two. This will be my first attempt at a multi chapter fanfic and it's been a while since I've written any fiction at all. So feedback will be greatly appreciated! Let me know what you liked and let me know what you think I could improve on.


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